More than 2.7 million dollars worth of pirated and counterfeit goods have been seized in Los Angeles in a pre-Christmas crackdown since last Thursday, officials said Tuesday.
Jeans, CDs, DVDs watches and jewelry were among those illegal merchandise seized during the operation by the city's Anti-Piracy Task Force.
A total of 28 people arrested during the "Operation Clean Sweep" are facing a variety of charges, including manufacturing, distribution and sales of counterfeit goods, according to Los Angeles Police Department officer David Doan at a news conference.
"Piracy is a serious business, but we're determined to sweep itout of Los Angeles," said City Councilwoman Wendy Greuel, a former DreamWorks SKG executive who chairs the city's anti-piracy group.
As part of efforts to crack down on counterfeit merchandise, investigators of the Anti-Piracy Task Force raided manufacturers, distributors and merchants throughout the Los Angeles area, including Fashion District in downtown Los Angeles.
The operation caps a year in which more than 22 million dollars of pirated items have been seized in the area, officials said.
Seized goods, including Spanish-language music CDs and bootlegged DVDs of newly released movies like "Seven Pounds" and "Bolt," were displayed on tables and in garbage bags by members of the task force at the news conference.
Greuel said that sales of pirated goods, which often originate in Taiwan, are frequently connected to gang members, who increasingly find the illicit business more lucrative than drug sales.
Piracy costs the Los Angeles area economy 100,000 jobs across nine sectors for a total of 4.4 billion dollars in lost wages every year, according to a report issued earlier this year by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation.
The Los Angeles Anti-Piracy Task Force was formed last year to combat the crippling impact to the local economy of the counterfeit goods trade. The group includes officials from law enforcement, government, business and the entertainment industry.
Source:Xinhua
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