I AM
A PIRATE
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Movie pirates are spraying chemicals on
their bootleg DVDs to confuse two U.S.-loaned dogs who this month
helped Malaysian authorities sniff out nearly 1 million illegal
discs, an official said Monday.
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The two female Labradors have been trained to detect polycarbonate
chemicals used in manufacturing discs. But officials received a
tip-off that bootleggers are using chemical sprays to throw Lucky
and Flo off the scent, said Fahmi Kassim, the Domestic Trade
Ministry's enforcement chief in southern Johor state.
"The pirates are believed to be desperate because the dogs were so
successful," Fahmi told The Associated Press.
Ministry authorities last week said the dogs were moved to a safe
house after a source informed them that DVD and CD pirates were
offering a bounty to anyone who could kill the dogs, which are on
loan for at least a month from the Motion Picture Association of
America.
The dogs, which began sniffing out disc shipments at Malaysia's
main airport on March 13, won acclaim when they traveled south to
Johor, helping officials uncover 1 million pirated DVDs, CDs and
computer game discs worth $2.8 million in an office complex on
March 19.
Fahmi declined to say whether Lucky and Flo were still in Johor,
citing security reasons. However, the dogs have not taken part in
any raids in Johor since last week's effort, he said.
The large seizure has not crippled pirates, Fahmi said, noting that
authorities in Johor, which borders Singapore, found several retail
outlets selling pirated discs over the weekend.
"We believe the pirates wanted to show off their strength, to show
that they managed to reorganize and reopen their business even
after we confiscated so many discs," Fahmi said.
Malaysia is among the world's main producers and exporters of
pirated discs, the U.S. government and the MPAA have said.
According to the Malaysian government, 5 million discs were seized
in more than 2,000 raids nationwide last year, and 780 people were
arrested.
The MPAA says Lucky and Flo's work in this Southeast Asian country
is the first time authorities anywhere in the world have used dogs
to detect contraband discs. Malaysian officials have said they will
consider training their own canines to perform similar
tasks.