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Customs officers from the Special Task Force yesterday (December 7) smashed a pirated disks syndicate believed to be under the control of five members within a family and active in piracy activities in Mong Kok.
In an anti-piracy operation codenamed "Explorer", officers raided 16 spots in Mong Kok, Tai Kok Tsui, Shek Kip Mei and Lai King, including a shop, and several residential units.
A replicating centre for pirated optical disks (PODs), two storage centres and a retail outlet were raided, leading to the seizure of 50,000 PODs and 11 sets of POD replicating devices, each equipped with an optical disk drive and seven CD writers. The seizure was worth about $1.06 million.
Forteen men and three women, aged 19 to 66, were arrested. Of them, three men with two-way permits were employed to pack and deliver PODs and eight local men and a local woman were employed for disk replication or sale.
Customs officers believe they have arrested core members of the syndicate, including the 58-year-old female mastermind.
A spokesman for Customs and Excise stressed that the department would continue its effort in clamping down on piracy activities, including rooting out piracy syndicates.
Ends/Thursday, December 8, 2005
Issued at HKT 16:31
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