Customs officers have arrested three men and two women and seized more than 220 photocopied books and eight photocopiers in a crackdown on illegal copying.

In Tai Po yesterday, Customs officers found a photocopy shop had employed a Mainland man to make illegal photocopies inside a residential unit.

There, they seized 179 photocopies of books and four photocopiers, worth about $50,000 total. They also arrested three people, including a 39-year-old local man, a 37-year-old local woman and a 17-year-old Mainland woman.

Officers also raided two photocopy shops in Kwai Fong and Sai Wan. They seized from them 48 photocopies of books and four photocopiers, worth about $120,000 in total, and arrested the shop owners, men aged 27 and 39.