6:50am Thursday 11th June 2009
Three market traders were arrested after police seized nearly £50,000 of counterfeit clothes, DVDs and computer games at a Sunday morning market in Battersea.
Police, trading standards officers and respresentatives from the film, clothing and music industry discovered the haul during a joint operation to crack down on pirate goods.
The operation was staged at a market in Nine Elms last month.
The three traders were detained for questioning under the Trade Marks Act 1994 and were later released on bail. They now face being prosecuted by trading standards officers.
As part of the operation, vehicles entering the market site were also checked using Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) systems which "flag up" suspicious vehicles.
Using information provided by the ANPR system, more than 40 vehicles were subjected to further checks in relation to a range of traffic and motoring offences including lack of insurance, no MOT and no tax.
Police officers issued some of the drivers with fixed penalty notices and four vehicles were impounded.
The council's chief trading standards officer Les Eames said: "This was a very successful joint operation that allowed us to remove thousands of fake and counterfeit items from being on sale to the general public.
"We have also ensured that some pretty shocking and unpleasant movies won't be falling into the hands of children and young people.
"Unfortunately we are seeing more and more of these counterfeit DVDs and CDs being offered to the public, who probably think they are grabbing a cheap bargain.
"But if they are tempted, they should remember that this is not a victimless crime.
"Many of the people behind the illicit production of these pirate goods use the money they generate to commit much more serious crimes, including fraud, people smuggling, drugs and prostitution.
"People should think long and hard about that the next time they are tempted by a fake designer handbag or a cheap deal on the latest Hollywood blockbuster."
Accompanying officers on the raid were representatives of FACT - The Federation Against Copyright Theft, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) and trademarks representatives from brands such as Adidas, Nike, G-Star, New Era and Louis Vuitton.
Anyone with concerns about fake and counterfeit items being sold in Wandsworth should contact the council's trading standards team on 020 8871 7720.
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