Links to other criminal activity and organised crime

The sale of counterfeit goods is often seen as a bit of a ‘Del Boy’ occupation. This view is far from the truth. When the case around the Chinese cockle pickers that sadly died in Morecambe Bay a few years ago was investigated, clear links to the trade in pirated DVDs were found. When industry investigators look into the background of those selling fake goods, they frequently find evidence of benefit fraud, identity theft, the illegal sale of pornography, and the trade in illegal cigarettes.

Markets and car boot sales are also infiltrated by racketeers and criminal gangs for whom IP crime is just one in a portfolio of illegal activities that makes up a criminal lifestyle. At present, the trade in counterfeit and pirated goods represents a high return and very low risk and markets are the venues of choice.

There is also increasing evidence of children being used to front up market stalls in order to protect the counterfeiters, and of violence and intimidation in the enforcement of traders’ patches. 
The seriousness of these links is seen in the adoption of IP crime as a programme of work by the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) and the creation of the industry-funded Film Piracy Unit which operates out of the Metropolitan Police Force. Download a pdf of case studies on associated organised crime.