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The 35,000 DVDs seized in a police raid in the Malaysian state of Johor on the 30^th and 31^st May 2009 included a number of films that were still on theatrical release around the world.   Titles included Hollywood blockbusters Star Trek, Terminator Salvation, Angels & Demons and Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.   The warehouses were situated within a mile of the border with Singapore, a country recognised as a hub for the distribution of illegal DVDs produced in Malaysia and Indonesia.   The police had expected to find DVD-burner labs.

Mike Ellis, President and Managing Director of Asia-Pacific for the Motion Picture Association (MPA), said of Paddy, the black Irish Labrador who sniffed out the haul, ‘We are glad to hear that Paddy's skills are being put to good use against the large, organised network of pirates involved in exporting illegal pirated DVDs to Singapore.’

Paddy was one of two dogs – his partner was named Maddy – transported to Malaysia from Northern Ireland in 2008 following the success of their predecessors, Lucky and Flo,  who were responsible for the arrest of 26 people in 35 raids which resulted in the seizure of nearly 100 DVD burners, five replication machines and close to 2 million pirated DVDs in just six months.   In fact, according to the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), Lucky and Flo were so successful that a Malaysian crime syndicate issued a $30,000 contract on the dogs.  All four dogs were specially trained to identify the smell of the polycarbonate plastic in discs.

The MPA, which is the Asia-Pacific branch of the MPAA, estimated that $1.2 billion in revenue is lost each year to disc and internet piracy in the Asia Pacific region.  [ADD]