AN ESTIMATED 20,000 illegal copies of movies along with an assortment of DVD-burning equipment have been seized by gardaí in an operation set up to target pirated DVDs and other "illicit goods" that were available at Balbriggan open air market.
The anti-copyright theft organisation INFACT was also involved and industry sources say a house where the DVDs were found was "one of the largest factories of its kind we have found".
Gardaí estimated the value of counterfeit DVDs recovered was approximately €500,000 and some of the 90 DVD burners found on the Balbriggan premises were able to copy 10 discs at a time.Some estimates put the value of the equipment found to be close to €500,000 as well.
It's believed that the huge volume of pirated product was primarily for sale at the weekend market just off the M1 motorway.
A Garda source said that an operation began last year "to counteract illicit goods going into the market. We have been making seizures there nearly every weekend mainly of cigarettes and DVDs. We believe all the products seized in this raid was destined to supply that Sunday market."
The pirating operation was discovered when a house on the Naul road out of Balbriggan was searched late on Thursday .
Nobody was in it when gardaí arrived and there have not been any arrests although both gardaí and INFACT are confident they have dealt a major blow to the criminals behind the operation.