The discovery of a DVD factory in Greenwich will make a significant dent in the market for counterfeit DVDs across London, according to the police.

In what turned out to be the largest DVD factory discovered in the past 18 months, officers found around 65,000 counterfeit DVDs ready to be dispatched and sold on the streets; 21 copying ‘towers’ containing 210 DVD multi-burner trays and thousands of DVD sleeves and film labels in two bedrooms at the house. In the garage, they found around 30,000 blank DVDs stored in boxes.

The equipment found was able to produce 140,000 knock-off DVDs per week with a street value of over £420,000. The product cost of each DVD is about 20p but on the streets, they can sell for around £3.00 each.
Seven people, five men and two women, all in their 20s, were arrested on suspicion of theft of copyrights and taken to south London police stations.

"The discovery of this DVD factory will cause serious disruption to the supply of counterfeit DVDs across London. The production of illegal DVDs is often funded by international criminal networks and can lead to further crimes such as drugs supply and prostitution being introduced to the area,” says local authorities.

The Federation Against Copyright Threat (FACT) was associated to the seizure.

Story filed 09.01.08