Customs have closed down a pirated optical disc centre in Tseung Kwan O, with the largest seizure of pirated Japanese animation optical discs sold online.

Acting on complaints from the copyright owner that pirated Japanese animation discs were sold through a Japanese website, the department's Anti-Internet Piracy Team launched an investigation. With the assistance of the Internet service provider, Customs officers located the computer used for uploading materials to the alleged website.

They seized three computers and 16,000 pirated Japanese animation discs worth $470,000 yeterday. The seized optical discs, including animation now broadcase on local TV, were professionally packaged.

Three men, aged 22 to 67, were arrested.They were on bail of $5,000 each pending further investigation.

To evade Customs investigation, the people involved asked customers to make payments to several Japanese bank accounts, all obtained from the black market along with cash withdrawal cards. After bill settlement, they would fly to Japan to cash in using the withdrawal cards.