Two American nationals were arrested on July 1 in China as leading suspects of a ring for selling pirate DVDs, the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) of China said Friday.

"The successful cracking of the case is the result of close cooperation between Chinese and American law enforcement departments," said Gao Feng, deputy director of the Economic Crime Investigation Department of MPS, at a press conference.

Four other suspects of the ring were also arrested with the approval of the Shanghai Municipal People's Procuratorate, he said. The two American suspects are Randolph Hobson Guthrie and Cody Abram Thrush.

More than 210,000 pieces of pirate DVDs, seven computers, three telephones and a large number of mail bags had been confiscated, with 220,000 yuan (US$26,634) and 67,000 US dollars frozen as illicit money, he said.

Also at the press conference, Kong Guangming, deputy director of the Shanghai Public Security Bureau, said preliminary investigation showed the two Americans had sold 100,000 pirate DVDs worldwide through the Internet, with 20,000 sold in the America.

The crackdown shows the Chinese law enforcement departments attach great importance to combating against crimes violating intellectual property rights, said Andy Yu, customs attaché of the Department of Homeland Security of the United States.

This case is a successful model for the US-Sino cooperation in this field, Yu said, expressing hope that the US side is willing to further cooperation with China.

In April this year, the US side informed China with clues of the case, and China paid high attention to the case, said Gao. Through joint efforts by both sides, the police found evidences showing suspects had sold large numbers of pirate DVDs to the United States and other countries through the Internet.

"This is the first time for the Chinese public security departments and US immigration and customs enforcement departments to cooperate successfully," said Gao. 

(Xinhua News Agency July 30, 2004)