Chinese customs arrest three Japanese, seize pirated discs

BEIJING, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- Customs officers in northeast China have arrested three Japanese people and seized more than 1,100 pirated compact discs which they allege were being smuggled aboard a flight from Dalian to Tokyo, the General Administration of Customs said on Monday.

The airline passengers were checked into flight JL798 when the discs were found at the luggage inspection, said a report of the administration's website.

Most of them were TV series, films and Japanese cartoons. The three people had been handed to police for further investigation, according to the Customs.

Dalian Customs had handled 42 intellectual property rights violation cases since Oct. 1 last year and seized 3,625 pirated goods, including Beijing Olympics mascots, mobile phones, watches and compact discs.

China's General Administration of Press and Publication estimates 120 million pirated discs and videotapes are produced each year nationwide in addition to about 500 million pirated books.

From the beginning of January to the end of March 2007, the Chinese government seized 30.56 million pirated discs, videotapes and other publications.