By Anthony M. Destefano
Newsday
QUEENS, N.Y. — Queens District Attorney Richard Brown and his investigators have gotten the help of some top dogs to bust up a suspected counterfeit movie operation.
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Two specially trained Labrador retrievers, Lucky and Flo, have been instrumental in recent months in sniffing out nearly 2 million pirated counterfeit DVDs in Southeast Asia.
The efforts of the canine duo also led to the arrest in Queens on Tuesday of three men accused of criminal trademark violations and other charges, as well as the seizure of 5,200 fake CDs and DVD movies, including new films such as “The Simp.sons” and “Underdog.”
“Man’s best friend has become a DVD counterfeiter’s worst nightmare,” said Brown in a prepared statement.
Lucky and Flo, both 31/2 years old, were back in Queens yesterday after six months in Malaysia as part of “Operation Double Trouble,” an anti-piracy effort of the Motion Picture Association of America. Brown and his staff cooperated with the MPAA in the latest Queens busts.
The dogs sniffed out some of the DVDs found in three Queens stores, said Brown: Electronic Electroshack, 89-27 165th St.; Leather Wholesale, 89-64 165th Street and 165 Flava, at 165-01 Jamaica Ave. At a news conference with the dogs and MPAA officials, Brown said the DVDs sold for up to $10 and were of inferior quality to legitimate copies, which retailed for about $20.
Copyright 2007 Newsday