Bootleg soaps nets €300,000 for gang

THREE labs where popular Latin American soap operas were pirated have been dismantled by Police in Alicante, Zaragoza and Girona.

More than 64,400 DVDs were seized and three people were arrested by police.

It is estimated they had made profits of €300,000 and would have made €1.2 million more with what was seized in the operation. They offered all seasons of more than 100 popular television soaps mainly from Mexico, Venezuela and Argentina, on four websites.

The DVDs were sent by courier to buyers in Spain as well as France, Italy, Belgium and Russia. They payments were made on receipt or via bank transfers to the detainees’ accounts.

They justified this income pretending it was from shell companies which they had created.

The clients were mainly women aged 40 – 65, or foreigners wanting to learn Spanish.

They recorded and stored the illegal copies ready for sale, and police seized more than 68,400 DVDs, three hard drives and 28 recording systems.