Organised Crime unit issue cease & desist notices in Wrexham for sale of illegal streaming boxes

Those dealing in cracked internet TV boxes in Wrexham may soon have notices from a specialist policing unit.

The North West Regional Organised Crime Unit (NW ROCU) said, “Our disruption team have been working with GAIN (Government Agency Intelligence Network) & FACT and issued cease & desist notices in Wrexham & Blackburn to people involved in the sale of illegal iPTV subscriptions”

The notices also went to people dealing in ‘cracked online television boxes’.

IPTV stands for Internet Protocol Television which a method that television services are provided via the internet, and in the context of the ‘cracked online tv boxes’ that can mean some free to air channels but often pay channels such as Sky Sports.

NW ROCU is a a collaboration between Cumbria, Lancashire, Merseyside, Cheshire, GMP & North Wales police to fight organised crime and describe their mission as one to ‘to identify, disrupt and dismantle organised crime groups causing the most harm to the North West’.

“We do this by working with our partners to gather intelligence, cracking the most serious and organised crime networks and then seizing the assets of the criminals involved.”

Four weeks ago the unit, working again with FACT, arrested a 40 year old man thirty miles away in Winsford in connection with creating and maintaining a Kodi ‘add-on’ directly linked to the supply of illegal online streams.

The scale of the offending was described as ‘significant’ and affected broadcasters and rights owners in the UK and worldwide. Police searched an address, seized evidence, and interviewed the suspect has later been released on police bail pending investigation.

NW ROCU said, “This type of offending not only causes significant harm to the creative sector and linked businesses but can carry serious consequences for the end user, such as the risk of electrical safety issues, malware infection, scams and identity theft.” The investigation continues.

This latter action has raised eyebrows with civil courts previously thought to be the method of taking action, rather than police involvement.