Washington, DC - In what is the largest seizure ever of equipment used to pirate music onto blank CDs in the United States, the U.S. Secret Service, assisted by a team of investigators from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), on Monday morning raided a major music piracy operation in New York City, leading to the capture of 35,000 finished CD-Rs, 10,000 DVDs, the equivalent of 421 CD-R burners and the arrest of three individuals. This operation alone had the potential to cost the industry an estimated $90 million annually.

The raid, executed by a team of several Secret Service agents and RIAA investigators, was the culmination of a two-month joint investigation of a well-organized music piracy operation in Queens, located on 47-28 37th Street. This particular operation was the largest supplier of pirated music to individual vendors, retail locations, and distribution centers on Canal Street in Manhattan, churning out illegal product around the clock with an estimated capacity of at least six million pirated discs each year. Among the three individuals arrested was the leader of the operation. They now face charges of trafficking in counterfeit labels, criminal copyright infringement, and trademark counterfeiting.

"This is a major blow to the music pirates who were robbing record companies, artists, legitimate retailers and countless others in the industry of millions of hard-earned dollars," said Frank Creighton, Executive Vice President and Director of the RIAA’s Anti-Piracy Unit. "This operation should pay further dividends because we have successfully struck at one of the major choke points for music piracy in the New York City area. I especially want to thank the work of the U.S. Secret Service who were invaluable partners in this effort."

Officials also seized eight Rimage Imprinters, one high-end color copier valued at $75,000, and other equipment and raw materials used in the manufacturing process. Approximately 25 percent of the product seized was Latin music.