A GANG alleged to be selling pirate DVDs, pornography and tens of thousands of counterfeit cigarettes in Huddersfield has been raided by police.

Police from Huddersfield Neighbourhood Policing Team swooped on a house at Great Northern Street on Sunday and seized more than 5,000 DVDs.

They included new cinema releases such as Die Hard 4, featuring Bruce Willis and Ocean’s 13.

Several pornographic DVDs, alleged by the police to be “offensive’’, were also found.

Police say they are making inquiries as to where the DVDs have come from.

Six people – believed to be Chinese – were arrested on suspicion of entering the UK illegally.

Police also recovered more than 84,000 cigarettes, alleged to be counterfeit, which have been passed on to Customs and Excise.

Several of those arrested remained in custody today as the inquiry continued.

Insp David Glover appealed for members of the public not to buy such goods when offered them by street traders and to inform the police so that they could be stopped.

He said: “The public must realise that if my team find such articles on them on a night out in Huddersfield they may well find themselves in the cells and have to explain to their families why they are in possession of such offensive pornography or counterfeit DVDs.’’

Meanwhile, officers at West Yorkshire Trading Standards Service HQ at Morley near Leeds, officers could not believe their luck when a “hawker” with pirate DVDs turned up on their doorstep.

The Chinese woman in her 20s approached officers carrying a bag full of the latest film titles and they say she asked if they wanted to buy any.

Officers invited the woman into their offices to meet their specialist anti-piracy team.

Again, she had films on general release such as Die Hard 4 and Ocean’s 13, along with “illegal pornography”.

All were seized by Trading Standards.

The woman told Trading Standards via a translator that she had been in the country for just two days.

Graham Hebblethwaite, West Yorkshire’s Chief Trading Standards Officer, said: “Not surprisingly she was unable to provide any leads for her suppliers.

“Trading Standards suspect she may have been forced into selling the DVDs, possibly by an organised crime gang.

“As she left the Trading Standards offices she went to a nearby bus stop where she met with an accomplice also carrying a bag of DVDs.

“Officers approached the second woman who was also in her 20s and of Chinese origin and a further rucksack full of counterfeit DVDs was recovered.

Mr Hebblethwaite added: “We are inundated with complaints about counterfeiting and have recently been given additional powers under copyright legislation to take action against this type of crime.

“Counterfeiting is not a victimless crime and very often those involved are also linked with other serious criminality, including drug dealing and people trafficking. The individuals selling these DVDs are forced to do so under threat of serious harm to themselves and their families back home.

“We have established a team dedicated to investigating counterfeiting activities and are committed to reducing the amount of illegal goods on the market.’’

Recent raids at a house in Leeds uncovered a significant storage facility and DVD “factory” where equipment was set up to make hundreds of copies from a master disc.

Clr Derek Yates, deputy chairman of the Trading Standards Committee, said: “Consumers would regret their decision to purchase these films as the quality is very poor.

“They are often recorded from the back of a cinema, the picture is not clear and the sound is poor. There are instances where the picture or sound is obscured by the cinema goers.’’

It is estimated that the cost of piracy crime to the audio visual industry as a whole is £818m and the criminal gain is £278m.