Queens Gazette

Dogs Sniff Out Counterfeit DVDs





(L to r.): Dog trainer Neil Powell, MPAA Director of Worldwide Anti-Piracy Operations John G. Malcolm and Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown pose with Flo and Lucky, two black Labs who sniffed out thousands of counterfeit DVDs. See page 30 for story.

(L to r.): Dog trainer Neil Powell, MPAA Director of Worldwide Anti-Piracy Operations John G. Malcolm and Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown pose with Flo and Lucky, two black Labs who sniffed out thousands of counterfeit DVDs. See page 30 for story.

Thousands of counterfeit DVDs were seized last week and the individuals operating the Jamaica retail outlets where the fakes were sold arrested, Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown and Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) Executive Vice President and Director of Worldwide Anti-Piracy Operations John G. Malcolm announced. The seizure and arrests on August 28 were made with the assistance of Lucky and Flo, two black Labrador retrievers, who are the first animals in the world trained to detect the scent of polycarbonate and other chemicals used in optical discs. Lucky and Flo are sponsored by the MPAA as part of an initiative to combat copyright infringement relating to motion pictures and DVD discs.

Court-authorized search warrants were executed on August 28 by detectives assigned to the District Attorney’s Detective Bureau on Electronic Electroshack, 89-27 165th St., Leather Wholesale, 89-64 165th St., and 165 Flava, 165-01 Jamaica Ave. The detectives and the dogs recovered counterfeit DVD movies of recent theatrical releases which are not available on DVD, such as “The Simpsons Movie”, “Knocked Up”, “The Bourne Ultimatum”, “Rush Hour 3”, “The Invasion”, “Illegal Tender”, “Underdog” and others.

Ibrahima Diallo, 19, 82-79 167th St., Mohamed Sene, 20, 1223 Wheeler Ave., The Bronx, and Michael Williams, 20, 109-25 Merrick Blvd., were arrested and have been charged with second-degree trademark counterfeiting and first-degree failure to disclose the origins of a recording. If convicted, Diallo, Sene and Williams each face up to four years in prison.

“For the first time in the United States, specially trained DVD-sniffing dogs have actively participated in a criminal investigation aimed at combating DVD piracy,” Brown said, “The dogs passed with flying colors by successfully ferreting out hidden contraband at a number of locations. Man’s best friend has become a DVD counterfeiter’s worst nightmare as we now welcome this latest weapon into our law enforcement anti-piracy arsenal.”

“The MPAA has a multi-pronged approach to fighting piracy, including public outreach and enforcement, and since last year we’ve added two more very talented crime fighters to our arsenal, Lucky and Flo, the world’s first DVDsniffing canines,” Malcolm said. “Lucky and Flo are in New York to help raise awareness about the pervasiveness of film theft and about the dangerous nature of many of the criminal syndicates that engage it. I commend the Queens District Attorney for his efforts to fight film piracy in his jurisdiction and for utilizing these amazing pups in yesterday’s raid. We are pleased and proud to assist him in his ongoing efforts to combat this pernicious crime that puts money into the hands of serious criminals and deprives creative artists of their right to make an honest living creating works of movie magic that we all enjoy.”

Brown added, “Here in New York we are all too familiar with the ubiquitous pirated DVDs and CDs that are being sold all over the city in neighborhood retail stores, at flea markets and by street corner vendors. These counterfeit discs- which are clearly of inferior quality- are sold for between $5 and $10 each, well below the price of the legitimate product, which usually runs around $20. Those involved in the manufacture, distribution and sale of these bogus discs fleece the motion picture industry of billions of dollars in worldwide revenue, cheat companies and artists out of substantial sums in lost royalties and rip off honest consumers who are forced to pay higher prices for their theatrical and DVD entertainment. In addition, such piracy deprives the city and state of much needed tax revenue. My office will continue to work with the motion picture industry to close down these illegal operations and vigorously prosecute those involved.”

Lucky and Flo have been on assignment in Malaysia, where as part of “Operation Double Trouble”, they accompanied Malaysian and Filipino law enforcement officers on 35 raids, leading to the arrest of 26 people on copyright violations. As part of the raids, nearly 1.9 million pirated discs with an estimated street value of more than $3.5 million were seized, as well as 97 burner towers used to produce the pirated discs and three replicating lines from a pirate plant valued at approximately $2 million that were used to produce high quality pirated products.

The investigation was conducted by Detectives Richard A. Lewis, Patrick Dolan and other members of the District Attorney’s Detective Bureau under the supervision of Lieutenant Robert J. Burke and Sergeant John W. Kenna and the overall supervision of Chief Investigator Lawrence J. Festa and Deputy Chief Investigator Albert D. Velardi. Assisting in the investigation were Investigators John Segovia and Christopher Kirkland from The Motion Pictures Association of America under the supervision of Staff Supervisor Peter English and the overall supervision of Deputy Director of U.S. Operations William Shannon.

Brown expressed his appreciation for the cooperation and support from the Motion Picture Association of America and the Recording Industry Association of America, both located in Yonkers.

It should be noted that criminal charges are merely an accusation and that defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

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