42,000 CDs, Tapes Seized at Warehouse

Police seized about 42,000 pirated compact discs and cassette tapes from a local storage locker Thursday, calling it one of the largest seizures of pirated music in Southern California.

Santa Ana police said they found the tapes in a warehouse at 4918 W. 1st St. while following leads from the arrests last weekend of four people suspected of selling pirated music at the Orange Coast College Swap Meet in Costa Mesa.

Most items seized Thursday--more than 35,000--were compact discs. They ranged from Elvis Presley tunes to recordings by Spanish and Vietnamese artists, Police Sgt. Bob Clark said.

Clark placed the value of the discs and cassettes at about $250,000 but said the loss to the record industry was much greater given the loss in royalties.

Police and investigators from the Recording Industry Assn. of America first served a search warrant Thursday on a home in the 5000 block of Davit Avenue in Santa Ana and arrested Hang Thi Tran, 51, on suspicion of possessing pirated recordings to sell, a felony. At the house, Clark said, they came upon the address of the storage locker on 1st Street.

“It filled an entire van,” Clark said of the boxes of goods.

Clark said that while pirated tapes have long been a problem, pirated compact discs are just coming into vogue. He said the high quality of the labels indicated a sophisticated operation.

Clark said Tran is suspected of selling the goods to other vendors for $1.50 to $2.50.

At places such as swap meets, the discs would sell for about $6, the tapes about $5.

She was held in Santa Ana Jail on $25,000 bail.