2 Seized at Swap Meet, 2,000 Tapes Confiscated
More than 2,000 counterfeit tapes worth $20,000 were confiscated Sunday morning at the Simi Valley Swap Meet, and two people were arrested, police said.
Leonel Sanchez, 40, of San Fernando, and Manuel Keyes, 33, of Huntington Park, were arrested during the raid on five swap-meet booths where music tapes were being sold, Simi Valley Police Lt. Don W. Austin said. Four other men were issued citations, he said.
Police identified the music tapes as counterfeit with the help of investigators from the Recording Industry Assn. of America, a nonprofit trade association based in Washington, D.C., Austin said. Investigators taught police to inspect the way tapes are packaged for clues to counterfeiting, he said.
RIAA estimates that the recording industry lost more than $300 million in 1986 from the sale of illicit records and tapes.
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