Spanish police raids knock-out piracy gang

21st September 2009

Spanish police last week arrested four members of a criminal gang that specialised in the production and distribution of music and audiovisual pirate material. The gang had the necessary infrastructure to produce 20,000 counterfeit discs a day.

The gang had material including "master copies" of films that had been premiered only 48 hours before and even the master of one film that is not yet released in Spanish cinemas. Officers searched a house in Seseņa (Toledo), seizing nine multi-burner towers with capacity for 90 recording devices, as well as 35,000 pirate CDs and DVDs. Police also seized 4,500 blank carriers (CD-R and DVD-R), 20,000 plastic sleeves, an industrial cutting machine and several printers, as well as a vehicle used to transport counterfeit discs to distribution centres around the country.

The 12-month investigation led to the dismantling of a criminal group that was highly organised with an important production and distribution capacity that allowed it to distribute counterfeit discs in several Spanish provinces.

The operation was carried out by the following National Police teams: the Group of Industrial and Intellectual Property Crimes of UDEV-Central (Judicial Police General Headquarters), the Group VI of Immigration Networks Central Brigade from UCRIF (Aliens and Borders General Headquarters), the Group XXIII of Madrid's Judicial Police Provincial Brigade and the Group I of Usera-Villaverde Police Station Judicial Police.