SHORT TAKES : 17,000 Bootleg Tapes Seized
Police found more than 17,000 counterfeit music cassette tapes in a raid on a “major ring” operating out of a South Los Angeles home and arrested five men for music piracy, authorities said today.
The bootleg tapes had a retail value estimated at $155,000, Sgt. John Paige said. The five men were arrested by vice officers investigating reports that the suspects sold counterfeit tapes of Mexican music and popular U.S. recording artists throughout the state, Officer Tom Wich said.
“According to the record industry, they consider it a major ring,” Wich said. Officers found boxes of tapes ready for distribution in the house in the 1000 block of East 34th Street and in a pickup truck parked outside during the 10 a.m. Tuesday raid. Police staked out the home last week after a tip from investigators for the Recording Industry Assn. of America.
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