Canine Paddy hot on the trail of movie pirates in Malaysia

MUMBAI: The Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (MDTCA) K9 unit’s Paddy led enforcement officers in another successful operation, this time taking down two clandestine factories producing pirated movie and game DVDs in the Malaysian state of Selangor. Supported by investigators from the Malaysian Federation Against Copyright Theft (MFACT) representing the Motion Picture Association (MPA), MDTCA conducted two separate raids on 6 June. The raids come close on the heels of last week’s successful closure of six warehouses in the state of Johor.
 
Paddy, the Labrador trained to detect optical discs, once again played a crucial role in the operation.
 
During the first raid on the morning of 6 June, five enforcement officers from the MDTCA Headquarters and five officers from the K9 unit raided an illegal factory in Subang, Shah Alam, seizing one DVD replicating machine and over 5,000 DVDs packed in boxes. No one was on the premises during the raid. Further investigations revealed that the machine was used to replicate games and movie DVDs.
 
Later that same evening, the same MDTCA team raided another illegal factory in the Sungai Buloh Industrial Area. During the raid, three DVD replicating machines and more than 80 bags of polycarbonate – used to manufacture discs – each weighing 25 kg were seized.
 
After an intense search with Paddy taking the lead, officers found a hidden corridor leading to a section of the adjacent property where the replicating machines was located. At the time of the raid, the factory was in operation. The officers were however unable to detain four suspects as they managed to escape by the time the team reached the machines.
 
Also seized were 15,000 pirated discs, including MPA member companies’ titles I, Robot, The Matrix Revolutions and The Matrix Reloaded as well as the TV series The Tudors and Lipstick Jungle.
 
"The Government and MDTCA are on an all out effort to address the proliferation of these replicating operations of pirated optical discs and address the source of piracy operations in Malaysia," said MDTCA Enforcement Department director-general Mohd. Roslan bin Mahayudin . "We are convinced that efforts to address hard goods piracy in Malaysia must start from the source of such activities.  We appeal to those with information to share that information with us so that we can rid Malaysia of these unhealthy activities and therefore curb the illegal sale and export of pirated DVDs from Malaysia."
 
"We congratulate the MDTCA on the momentum of another significant successful raid and are especially heartened by the resolve of the Malaysian authorities in getting to the heart and source of movie piracy in Malaysia. We look forward to more news of Paddy and the MDTCA taking down the next replicating facility," said Mike Ellis, Asia-Pacific for the MPA president and managing director Mike Ellis