Taiwanese authorities have uncovered a massive illegal optical disc lab andmore than a quarter of a million pirate discs in the biggest raids yet to bestaged in the country.

Officers from Taiwan's Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau (MJIB)swooped on three sites in Changhua City and the Taichung area on May 25 as partof a coordinated crackdown on piracy syndicates.

Six men were arrested as officers also found an illegal DVD-R/CD-R lab, oneillegal warehouse, 40 DVD-R burners and 376 CD-R burners.

According to the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) had theillegal burning lab continued to operate for another year the estimated annualprofit for the syndicate could have reached $20m.

"This is the largest single seizure of burners we have seen in theAsia-Pacific region, Mike Ellis," the MPAA's senior vice president forAsia-Pacific, said in a statement.

"We are delighted that Taiwan's MJIB have again demonstrated their resolveto neutralise these major criminal operations that severely damage the filmindustry in Taiwan.

"We will continue to work closely to support the prosecution of this case toensure a deterrent message is clearly delivered."

The MPAA estimates affiliated studios lose more than $718m in potentialrevenue each year in the Asia-Pacific region alone.

Last year MPAA officers in the region investigated nearly 15,500 cases ofpiracy and assisted law enforcement officials in conducting nearly 13,000raids, resulting in the seizure of around 44million illegal discs and thecommencement of more than 9,000 legal actions.