Forget the trafficking of drugs or ivory, the latest goods being peddled by organized criminals are… pirated primary school textbooks. Customs started an investigation into the source of these sub-par books on July 24 after receiving complaints from primary schoolchildren’s parents about poorly-printed textbooks and confirming with textbook publishers that their copyrights had been infringed.
Four days later, 7,400 pirated books have been seized. All but 300 of these were taken during a raid on two bookstores in Yuen Long and Tuen Mun and a warehouse in Tuen Mun. We’re picturing SWAT teams and bullet hole-ridden pages fluttering from the skies, but we’re not sure how it really went down. The rest of the seized books were collected from parents at two primary schools during the beginning of the investigation. In total, 90 titles have been ripped off, with a value of over $530,000.
In a stunningly display of clever criminal concealment, the suppliers deliberately sold legitimate books mixed in with copied books in order to prevent detection. Perhaps they took a page out of the book of drug dealers, who often cut their drugs with cheaper substances to increase their profit.
Under Hong Kong copyright laws, the import, export, sale or manufacturing of copyright-infringing materials is punishable to a maximum prison sentence of four years and a fine of up to $50,000 for each infringing copy.
