New | Hong Kong customs hunt mainlander helping viewers pirate World Cup coverage
Officers believe man heads syndicate selling illegal devices that 'steal' signal to broadcast channels to non-subscribers
Customs will seek help from mainland authorities to track down the ringleader of a syndicate selling illegal television boxes which receive local pay-TV broadcasts, including live World Cup matches.
The hunt for the mainland man began after customs officers arrested nine people and seized 41 boxes in a series of raids on Tuesday.
Customs kicked off its investigation of the syndicate after receiving a complaint from local station Now TV in April.
The five men and four women, who have been released on bail, are suspected to be members of the syndicate.
“The boxes could receive more than 300 pay-TV and movie channels in Hong Kong and from overseas,” the head of the department’s intellectual property investigation bureau, Lee Hon-wah, said.
He said he believed the syndicate also sold the boxes in Hong Kong, Canada, the United States and on the mainland.
Describing the operation as sophisticated, he said the syndicate recruited people to sign up with pay-TV stations as subscribers and get the stations’ set-top boxes.