James Delahunty
20 Oct 2007 17:13
On October 2nd, 2007, several search warrants were executed in the infamous "La Salada" market area in the province of Buenos Aires. The searches were carried out by a Special Tactical Operations Unit consisting of 300 police officers from the GendarmerÃa, Argentina's equivalent of a Homeland Security Agency. The raids led to the seizure of about 136,067 recorded CD-Rs.
Police officers also seized 273 burners, 8.6 million in-lays, 45,000 jewel boxes and 120,000 blank CD-Rs and made four arrests. La Salada is well known for its diverse pirating activities that include retail sales, wholesale distribution and replication labs. The authorities had already identified some organized crime syndicates that were in control of the market.
"We offer congratulations to the Argentine authorities and our national group Apdif Argentina for a job well done. More than one in three CDs sold worldwide is a pirate disc and we need to continue to crack down on the problem of music piracy," Raul Vazquez, IFPI Regional Director for Latin America.
Source:
Press Release