Video piracy tools seized at NAIA-2

Customs officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Centennial Terminal (NAIA-2) seized six "metal targets," described as tools used in the production of pirated VCDs and DVDs, from a Chinese national last Monday night.

Bureau of Customs-NAIA District Collector Ricardo Belmonte said the metal targets were found in the bags of Muk Chau Liu, who arrived from Hong Kong on board Philippine Airlines Flight PR 307 at around 7 p.m.

The items were discovered when Customs officer Gregorio Bungao made a random inspection of Liu’s check-in luggage while he was clearing the Customs area at the said terminal.

Belmonte said Liu failed to show a requisite permit from the Optical Media Board (OMB) for the importation of the said item into the country, forcing Bungao to hold Liu and his baggage.

Confirming the items as metal targets, Customs authorities then ordered the items seized by virtue of a warrant seizure issued by the BOC.

Republic Act 9239, otherwise known as the Optical Media Act of 2003, prohibits the importation of the said items into the country without a permit from the OMB.

Belmonte said that each metal target, when connected to a compact disc replicating machine, can produce as much as 150,000 pirated VCDs and DVDs a day.