TRADING standards officers believe they may have uncovered a major music CD counterfeiting operation on the outskirts of York.
A house in a village to the north of the city was raided on Wednesday by North Yorkshire Trading Standards officers and the MCPS Anti-piracy Unit - the organisation that investigates the illegal copying of music belonging to its composer and songwriter members.
North Yorkshire Police were also in attendance.
A library containing tens of thousands of albums was discovered during the raid, together with about 3,000 master discs.
Six computers were seized in the raid and a large quantity of copied material was also discovered.
The raid is the second in the York area in less than a week and forms part of the MCPS Anti-Piracy Unit crack down on Internet-related music counterfeiting.
At this stage it is not thought that this operation was linked to the raid last week in York.
Nick Kounoupias, of the MCPS Anti-Piracy Unit, said: "We've been aware of this operation for a number of months.
"Counterfeiters steal from our members - the composers and songwriters - and from local retailers whose trade suffers and causes a detrimental effect on the local economy as a result."
A spokesman for North Yorkshire Trading Standards said a 33-year-old man was arrested, questioned and given police bail pending further inquiries.
Updated: 11:15 Friday, April 04, 2003
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