Malaysia scored a major crackdown on piracy on 1 April when $1.3m worth of illegal DVDs and VCDs and replicating equipment were seized from a single syndicate. Some of the discs were for distribution to India.

The seizure is the biggest this year: together with 18 CD burners, more than 800,000 copies of pirated VCDs and DVDs, which were largely Bollywood and Tamil titles with a few English and Malay ones, were confiscated at the raided premises.

Abdul Rosik Yakub, director of Intellectual Property Protection Unit of the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs, said that the raid was conducted following an appeal by the Indian embassy to curb the distribution of pirated Indian movies in Malaysia.

Three syndicate members were arrested.