For the past 15 years, the Argentine market of “La Salada” has been known as a mecca for counterfeit product, and was identified by the European Union as one of the most notorious examples of illegal and counterfeit commerce in the world. Located in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area, it is a sprawling zone of over 15,000 stands, selling everything from music to bags.
On July 17, local law enforcement took action in conjunction with APDIF Argentina, the recording industry’s anti-piracy team. Together, they helped mobilize a tactical operations unit of 300 local police officers to execute warrants on La Salada. A total of 45,000 recorded CD-Rs and DVD-Rs were seized, as well as 36 burners and nearly 1 million in-lays. Eight people were arrested.
This is the second raid on La Salada this year and is part of Argentina’s ongoing effort to combat physical and digital piracy.
