1:09pm Monday 27th October 2008
By Carl Brown
FIVE people were arrested and fined for selling copied DVDs in Walthamstow High Street as part of a clampdown by the authorities.
Council officers and police teamed up as part of an operation which saw 257 illegal DVDs, and numerous packets of smuggled cigarettes, seized.
A total of five people were detained by the council's Highways Enforcement and issued with £150 on-the-spot fines for unlicensed street trading.
A Waltham Forest Police spokeswoman said: "This operation shows that all the involved partners are committed to reducing anti-social behaviour carried out by organised criminal gangs in the High Street area of Walthamstow.
"This was a novel way of dealing with this issue and sends out the message that illegal activitty will not be tolerated."
The sale of illegal DVDs in the borough, particularly in Walthamstow High Street and Leyton Mills shopping centre has been a concern to shoppers and local councillors in recent years.
In 2006 the Waltham Forest Guardian launched its Don't Buy Dodgy DVDs campaign, aimed at discourgaing people from buying copied DVDs, as their production is often linked to criminal gangs and people trafficking.
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