Chinese police seize 5.2 million pirated CDs
( 2002-06-28 11:08 ) (8 )

Marine police in south China's Guangdong Province have seized 5.2 million pirated compact discs from two vessels, the biggest haul ever captured in a single case.

A police launch was dispatched Monday night when intelligence sources heard that two vessels loaded with pirated discs were unloading at a port in Huizhou City that night.

The police spotted the vessel at sea at 10:30 p.m., but the smugglers had escaped.

About 2.2 million pornographic discs in 2,200 boxes were found on the vessel.

At 8:30 p.m., the police found another vessel off the coast of Huizhou which was carrying over 3 million pornographic discs.

Early this month, customs officers in Shantou City, also in Guangdong, seized over 3 million pirated discs from a smuggler's vessel.

Also in Guangdong earlier this month, a boat captain was sentenced to 13 years in jail and fined 3 million yuan (US$361,446) for smuggling 4.52 million pirated discs in October 1999.