Police lift bootleg DVDs and fireworks in market swoop

Editorial Department • Published 22 Oct 2010 09:00

POLICE in Enniskillen made a Sunday lunchtime swoop on the sale of illegal fireworks and DVDs at the Mullen Market with the help of the PSNI Air Support Unit.

Over 1,000 bootleg DVDs and CDs were seized along with £500 to £600 worth of fireworks, all which were being sold illegally.

Police arrested two members of the travelling community after they arrived at the scene.

According to PSNI Inspector Roy Robinson, officers arrived to find the stall in question was empty. However on further searches of the fields surrounding the market, they uncovered the large booty worth several hundreds of pounds.

Stating that the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) has been informed of the find, Inspector Robinson said the weekend seizure had taken a large quantity of illegal goods off the market.

“These people have no licence to sell these items and people have no license to buy them,” said Inspector Robinson, “There are plenty of reputable shops in the town trying to make a living selling legitimate items and these people are running them out of business. They are driving people out of jobs in Fermanagh. The DVDs are being burnt off a number at a time. They are second rate copies and could damage people’s DVD players or computers, but they don’t care. There are a number of films in this DVD find that are not even out yet.

“Anybody supporting them by buying their goods are supporting criminal activity.

“There are a lot of genuine sellers there at the market but there are also others who use that as a cover to sell these illegitimate goods.”

Meanwhile, a phone call from a member of the public at the weekend led to sweet victory for police in their fight against copper tank thefts across the county.

Thanks to a report from a vigilant member of the public on Saturday, who noticed a van parked outside an unoccupied property at Letter, Kesh, police were able to catch the thieves in the act and uncover a van filled with illegitimate goods into the bargain.

According to Inspector Roy Robinson, when police arrived at the scene they found a man carrying a large water tank cylinder in his arms with water still dripping from the cut pipes.

“Police arrested two suspects from the travelling community from Strabane,” Inspector Robinson said, “They also found two cylinders, a radiator from a tractor, 10 chainsaws, a power washer and a number of other tools in a van which was seized. These products would have been be used for the guise of selling on.”

Warning that the goods discovered in the van were “incredibly dangerous” Inspector Robinson appealed to farmers and other members of the public to be on the look out for similar items.

“These items are so dangerous -- they are not quality marked, they could just fall apart and cause serious injury. When you look at the chainsaws they all have the same model number on them -- PR56500 and serial number, 100410255.

“They are just stuck on -- and not even stuck on straight. If anyone sees any items like this I would be asking them to contact the police.”

The considerable find is a welcome victory for police who have been dealing with a rise in copper tank thefts across Fermanagh.

In another recent incident at Letter, a hot water cylinder was removed from an old vacant farm house. The back door of the property was kicked in and a stimmer was also taken.

Referring to the weekend find, Inspector Robinson urged members of the public to be “extremely vigilant” when it came to protecting their property.

“This was an unoccupied house where the water had not been turned off. If people own unoccupied properties they need to be turning their water off to avoid serious damage being caused,” he said.

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This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 21 Oct 10

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