KUCHING: The state commercial crime police made the biggest illegal optical disc bust to date after seizing over 10,000 CDs and DVDs and arresting five men on Tuesday.
LARGEST BUST: Firdaus (left) and investigating officer Inspector Mohd Rizal Abdul Rashid show the items seized in the raid.
Following the bust, Sarawak Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) head Supt Mohd Firdaus Abdullah said police have crippled a syndicate believed to be manufacturing and distributing illegal discs throughout the state.
“Acting on information received, a police team led by ASP Undi Dian detained five local men at a rented double-storey house and seized 10,376 illegal CDs and DVDs,” said Firdaus during a press conference at state police headquarters here yesterday.
“The men were in the middle of duplicating the discs, which were meant for the local market, and were caught unaware by the arrival of police,” he added.
Along with the pirated discs, police also seized 16 disc duplicators, a DVD player, television, printer, scanner, a CPU and a monitor worth a total of RM115,000.
Firdaus said the five suspects were in fact employed by a mastermind to duplicate the discs, all of which were the latest movie titles, and were even issued with ‘punch cards’ to monitor their working hours.
He added that police have yet to identify the mastermind behind the illegal operation but are working to establish his identity and to track him down.
“We believe this syndicate has been operating for the past several months and has networks in different regions throughout the state.
“We are also investigating to determine if it has links to other syndicates in Peninsular Malaysia,” he said.
The five men will be charged under Section 6(1) of the Film Censorship Act 2002, which carries a fine not less than RM5,000 but not exceeding RM30,000, a jail term of not more than three years, or both upon conviction.
Meanwhile, Firdaus also revealed that police have made a total of 27 busts statewide against illegal CD and DVD manufacturers so far this year in an operation codename Ops Ostrich.
Forty-one persons were arrested in connection with the police operation, which mostly took place in Kuching, and which resulted in the seizure of nearly 51,000 discs worth RM360,000.
Among those present during yesterday’s press conference were deputy CCID head DSP Stanley Jonathan Ringgit and other senior department officers.