Spanish police arrest 40 in major piracy raids

January 20, 2003

Spanish police have carried out one of the country's largest ever anti-piracy actions, dismantling a large piracy ring operating in the country. The police action, on January 18, was assisted by investigators from the Spanish recording industry.

AYFVE, the Spanish recording industry organisation and IFPI national group, handed the results of their initial investigations to the Spanish police in September. The police investigations began the same month.

During 13 raids in the Madrid area the following material was seized:

346 CD-R burners
168,400 blank CD-Rs
24,450 recorded CDs
39,000 DVDs
10,500 VCDs with films
515,000 jewel cases
210,000 inserts
48,000 Euros in cash

Forty people were arrested in the operation, including all the heads of the organisation, which was Chinese-run. The gang used a number of computer shops and restaurants to launder the money generated by the pirate product.

Iain Grant, Head of Enforcement for IFPI said: "This is excellent work by the Spanish police, which has resulted in the dismantling of this major network. The dramatic rise in piracy over the last two years has made Spain one of the recording industry's top priorities. This action shows the government and authorities are now taking very positive steps to tackle the problem. The case also underlines the involvement of international, organised crime in the piracy of recorded music."

For further information contact Carlos Grande, chairman of AFYVE on tel: +34 (91) 555 8196 or Fiona Harley at IFPI on tel: +44 (0)20 7878 7900

N.B. A picture of the seized product is available on request