The discovery of a DVD factory in Eltham yesterday, Tuesday 8 January, will make a significant dent in the market for counterfeit DVDs across London, says Greenwich Police.

According to FACT (Federation Against Copyright Theft) it is the largest DVD factory discovered in the past 18 months.

Greenwich officers were called to 18 Ryelands Crescent, Eltham, SE12, at 8.00 am today by officers from another borough who had called there on arrest enquiries.

At the scene, they found around 65,000 counterfeit DVDs ready to be dispatched and sold on the streets; 21 copying ‘towers’ containing 210 DVD multi -burner trays and thousands of DVD sleeves and film labels in two bedrooms at the house.

In the garage, they found around 30,000 blank DVDs stored in boxes.
The equipment found in Ryelands Crescent was able to produce 800 DVDs per hour. The product cost of each DVD is about 20p but on the streets, they can sell for around £3.00 each.

Seven people, five and two women, all in their 20s, were arrested on suspicion of theft of copyrights and taken to south London police stations.

Detective Superintendent Janice McClean said:”The discovery of this DVD factory will cause serious disruption to the supply of counterfeit DVDs across London. The production of illegal DVDs is often funded by international criminal networks and can lead to further crimes such as drugs supply and prostitution being introduced to the area.

“We are extremely pleased to have taken out this major supplier and the investigation will now continue to ascertain further details about who was behind it. I would urge anybody who notices anything suspicious in their street to contact their dedicated Safer Neighbourhoods Teams who will investigate.”