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May 23, 2007
Operation Digital Pirates yields two arrests and $1 million worth of counterfeit DVDs and CDs
More than 53,000 counterfeit DVDs and CDs with a value of approximately $1 million, were seized by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - More than 53,000 counterfeit DVDs and CDs with a value of approximately $1 million, were seized by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents here Sunday at several flea markets in the municipalities of Rio Piedras, Vega Baja, Mayaguez, Aguadilla, Hatillo, Rio Grande, Guayanilla and Salinas, Puerto Rico. The arrests and seizure were part of Operation Digital Pirates, an ICE initiative into the identification of intellectual property rights (IPR) violators.
Working with officials of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), ICE agents detained more than 40 persons for questioning for their alleged involvement in the production and selling of pirated movies and music CDs. Two men, Harold Padilla Valcarcel, 29, and David Ortiz-Figueroa, 33, were subsequently arrested and charged with violations to intellectual property rights laws.
"The growth in IPR violations in our jurisdiction is definitely one of our concerns as the enormous profits realized from the sale of counterfeit goods are used by international organized crime groups to bankroll other criminal activities, such as the trafficking in illegal drugs, weapons, and other contraband," said Manuel Oyola Torres, special agent in charge of ICE Office of Investigations in Puerto Rico. "We will continue conducting this type of operation with the assistance of our partners in the MPAA and RIAA in our efforts to dissuade those who contemplate to engage in this lucrative but criminal enterprise."
"When flea markets become pirate bazaars, they undermine the local economy by hurting legal businesses and deprive the government of critical revenue," said Brad Buckles, Executive Vice President, Anti-Piracy, RIAA. "Ultimately, everyone loses but the criminals when piracy is left unchecked. We applaud the many the law enforcement agencies involved in taking this important action to protect music and other industries from theft."
As the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) plays a leading role in targeting criminal organizations responsible for producing, smuggling, and distributing counterfeit products. ICE investigations focus not only on keeping counterfeit products off U.S. streets, but also on dismantling the criminal organizations behind this activity.
In fiscal year 2006, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and ICE marked an 83 percent increase in the number of IPR seizures, including 14,675 seizures of counterfeit goods worth more than $155 million, a 67 percent increase from the year before. ICE investigations resulted in 219 arrests, 134 indictments and 170 convictions in intellectual property rights violations.
Between fiscal years 2002 and 2006, ICE agents arrested more than 700 individuals for IPR violations and dismantled several large scale criminal organizations that distributed counterfeit merchandise to nations around the globe. At the same time, ICE investigations into these networks resulted in 449 criminal indictments and 425 convictions. Together, ICE and CBP seized more than $750 million worth of counterfeit goods from fiscal year 1998 through fiscal year 2006.
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