NBI raids 49 stalls selling fake DVDs

Operatives of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) confiscated P800,000 worth of pirated DVD movies and audio CDs during a raid on 49 stalls in Sta. Cruz, Manila over the weekend.

Jose Justo Yap, chief of the NBI-Intellectual Property Rights Division (IPRD), said they served 49 search warrants against stalls located at the second floor of Good Earth Plaza on Rizal Avenue corner Bustos street in Sta. Cruz.

Yap said charges of violation of Republic Act 9239, or the Optical Media Act of 2003, and Republic Act 8239, or the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines, would be filed against the owners.

Yap said they did not make any arrest since only employees were at the stalls.

NBI Agent III Joseph Furing, case investigator, said the complainants – Motion Picture Anti-Film Piracy Council Inc. and the Optical Media Board (OMB) coordinated with the NBI in the operation.

Furing said they raided the 49 stalls at around 2 p.m. for selling DVDs, VCDs and CDs.

The operation was conducted on the strength of search warrants issued by Judge Antonio Eugenio Jr. of Manila City Regional Trial Court Branch 24.

The confiscated items are being kept temporarily at the evidence room of the NBI main office in Manila.