Latin America: Authorities in Brazil and Paraguay mount anti-piracy crackdown

9th March, 2007

Brazilian and Paraguayan authorities conducted a number of important enforcement operations on both sides of the Tri-border area in the past few days, resulting in significant seizures.

The Specialized Anti-Piracy Unit (UTE) in Paraguay executed search warrants on 2nd March against two major labs and three warehouses in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay. The Unit seized 126 burners, 24,575 film DVD-Rs and 12,248 music CD-Rs. One person was arrested. All the seized discs included Brazilian repertoire.

Brazilian authorities in the state of Parana seized a total of 566 DVD-R burners, 16,000 film DVD-Rs, 6,000 music CD-Rs, 475,000 blank CD-Rs and DVD-Rs and half a million inlays on the 6th March as part of their ongoing highway interdiction programme. Three people were arrested during the operation. Again the seized discs all contained Brazilian repertoire.

Paraguay’s UTE, acting on intelligence from IFPI, executed a search warrant the following day against a warehouse located in the International Free Zone of Ciudad del Este, resulting in the seizure of approximately 100,000 recorded music CD-Rs and 303,000 film DVD-Rs. The location of the warehouse was pivotal to the pirate’s operations as it was located at a short distance from the Friendship Bridge to Brazil. It appears the pirates were waiting for the right time to attempt their smuggling venture but did not get the opportunity because of the intervention of the authorities. The retail market value of the products seized is approximately US$3 million. As with the other recent seizures, all the discs contained Brazilian repertoire.

Raul Vazquez, head of IFPI’s Latin America office, says: “We congratulate the Brazilian and Paraguayan authorities for these excellent enforcement operations.”