Illegal games copying company raided

The raid of a significant Camden business has resulted in the largest ever seizure of illegal video game copying devices yet seen in the UK.

The company, which has yet to be named, continued trading online despite receiving seizure notices from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs. Its premises, based in Camden, were raided on January 29th by the Trading Standards and Metropolitan police.

The raid unearthed more than 50,000 illegal game copying devices, including counterfeit game console peripherals for the Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. A fully operational production line was exposed, including full sacks of packaged illegal games ready for dispatch across Europe.

The Camden business is believed to have imported more than 38,000 illegal video game copying devises, with 32,000 since December 2008.

Michael Rawlinson, managing director of Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), said today: "Our investigators are out in force working with Trading Standards Departments across the UK, combing everything from Sunday car-boot sales to auction websites in search of counterfeiters.

"The devices found in Camden are highly illegal and offenders caught trading such items face criminal prosecution.

"ELSPA would like to thank Camden's Trading Standards department and all other attending authorities for their efforts in stamping out this criminal activity which ultimately threatens thousands of jobs in the country's games industry."