Cops bust pirate DVD operation
Source:iol.co.za Date:Wednesday, 19 May 2010. Article Type:General
A multi-million-rand pirate DVD operation was nipped in the bud on Tuesday when counterfeit copies with a street value of about R100 000 were confiscated.
There was nowhere to hide for three Zimbabweans who occupied the 16th floor of the Schubart Park flats when members of the Belle Ombre and Mabopane railway police, and the City Improvement District (CID), stormed up the stairs.
Inside they found that three bedrooms of the flat were being used to produce pirate DVDs of movies such as Iron Man 2, and even Tsotsi 2, that have not legally been released on DVD yet.
The equipment included computers, PC towers containing nine DVD burners each, specialised printers used to print labels directly on to DVDs and more than 2 500 DVDs awaiting delivery to street sellers.
With this equipment, the criminals could produce nine copies of a DVD at once, allegedly selling the copies for as little as R10 each.
Police said they received information about illegal activities in the flat. When they entered just before 10am, the suspects were copying DVDs.
The case was handed over to the Pretoria commercial crimes unit, assisted by the Southern African Federation Against Copyright Theft (Safact).
The three suspects, two men and a woman, who are legally in the country, will appear in court later this week.
Templeton Ngonyama, of the CID, said original information stated that the residents of the flat might be dealing in drugs. Although no drugs were found, the illegal copying business was discovered. "We also see this as part of our campaign to clean up the city, as one cannot walk in the streets without being confronted by people selling these illegal counterfeit goods," he said.
Ngonyama said this was no petty crime, as it robbed musicians and movie makers of their lawful income. "In the end, they are making more people jobless, generating an income from crime," he said.
Safact CEO James Lennox said they were assisting in compiling inventories of the seized products.
He said the DVDs confiscated on Tuesday alone had a street value of about R100 000.
"This represents a loss to legitimate business in potential sales of approximately R263 000. The true extent of the problem of film and games piracy and its negative impact on the creative industries is highlighted by the fact that the DVDs seized represent at most two days' stock for the pirates," he said.
Lennox expressed his appreciation to the police for their efforts to crack down on this illegal trade.
By Hanti Otto.