HONG Kong Customs authorities have sought help from Japan and Macau in connection with the seizure of 10,000 pirated laser karaoke discs worth $5 million at Kai Tak airport.
Senior Superintendent Vincent Poon Yeung-kwong of the intellectual property investigation bureau believed the goods discovered by airport command officers last Wednesday were intended for Macau.
''On the day following the seizure we searched a flight forwarder and a transport company in Kowloon Bay and Mongkok respectively. However, no one was arrested.'' Mr Poon said it was the biggest ever seizure of pirated laser discs.
Since the beginning of the year Customs officers have seized 2,179 pirated laser discs worth $880,000 which were made in Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan. Last year, they seized 502 pirated discs worth $251,000.
''So far, we have not found pirate copies flooding the market here, or had complaints from the producers of the genuine article.
''But there's no room for complacency. We are watching closely to see if this will develop into a problem of the same magnitude as pirating compact discs,'' he said.