Oregon Swapmeet Crackdown Nets 11
The Oregonian reports that 11 people were arrested Saturday, June 9, on charges of selling counterfeit goods, including fake CDs, DVDs, purses, sunglasses and toys, at two swap meets. In what has been called Oregon's biggest counterfeiting raid, police closed the swap meets -- the M&M Swap Meet and Millennium Flea Market -- and seized nearly 51,000 items valued at around $802,000. The owners of the swap meets were not arrested, but police are reportedly asking the city look into revoking their business licenses if it appears that they knew that counterfeits were being sold at their meets. The raids were the culmination of a six month investigation prompted by a tip received by the Beaverton, Oregon police last December. According to the Oregonian, around 20 recording and movie industry investigators came up from California to help police identify counterfeit CDs and DVDs.
The quality of some of the fake CDs and packaging was described as "amazing," leading to speculation that a significant portion of the discs were produced using a million-dollar replication machine that is used by the music industry to manufacture genuine CDs.