Major raids in Mexico City

Mexico City, 8th September 2008

Mexican law enforcement authorities raided a total of 70 warehouses and 15 laboratories around the infamous market of Tepito in Mexico City on 29th August. The area is a well-known distribution point for pirated music and film in Mexico. The raids followed several weeks of investigation into the activities of pirate music distributors and are part of the stepped-up intellectual property enforcement policy recently advanced by the Calderon Administration.

The operation, which took place with the assistance of local industry anti-piracy group APCM, led to the seizure of approximately 410,000 recorded CD-Rs/DVDs, three million covers and 850 CDR/DVD burners. Two individuals were arrested. A sizeable force of 375 police officers and 10 prosecutors from the Attorney General’s office (PGR) carried out the raids.

According to the authorities, the organisation targeted in the raids supplied pirate music and film product throughout the country. The large number of burners seized in the operation will have an important impact on the short-term supply of pirate product in Mexico.