Police seized several thousand fake DVDs and video games in Oxford’s Blackbird Leys last Friday morning, busting what may have been one of the largest counterfeiting businesses in the country.

The operation took place shortly after 7 am in Kestrel Crescent, where police found over 10,000 pirate movies and video games, together with recording equipment in one of the houses.

A police spokesman said that the two suspects, a 40-year-old woman and a 42-year-old man, have been bailed until January 26th.
Police had arrested them after the raid on a charge of copyright infringement, and questioned them the following night.
Police are estimating the exact value of the items seized as well as investigating where the counterfeit films were sold, and how long the business had operated.

Acting on a tip-off, police monitored the house for five days before the operating, the police spokesman said.
Officers found about 5,000 movies in a garden shed, as well as about 300 computer games and further 5,000 DVDs in the loft and the house itself, the Oxford Mail reported.

They also seized computer equipment which as being used to copy films at the time of the raid.

A 50-year-old neighbour said that officers spent several hours on the premises, searching the house and the cars on the driveway for evidence. Another neighbour claimed that the action was completely unexpected – most people living nearby had no idea of what was going on behind the doors of the semi-detached house, she said.