Inspectors from Westminster Council, which covers much of central London, have seized more than 100,000 illegal DVDS and magazines with an estimated value of £1 million.
Images released by the council show boxes full of unclassified material and R-rated material packaged without cases, which had been smuggled in from Europe and the United States for illegal distribution in the UK. The cache was discovered in lock-up storage units and garages in the towns of Merton and Wandsworth as a result of previous raids on retailers and sex shops that had been selling the material. There were four raids on two suppliers in total.
“We believe we have uncovered a major wholesale supply ring distributing unclassified material to shops in Westminster,” said Nickie Aiken of the Westminster City Council. “The operation illustrates the scale of the illegal sex industry in London. My fear is that corner shops in Westminster and elsewhere in the capital are now the new frontier for the illegal porn industry in London.”
Councillor Nickie Aiken of Westminster City Council expressed concern that corner shops were the “new frontier” for illegal porn trade. “The disturbing issue is that a child going into a newsagents for a comic or some sweets could now come across some very unpleasant hard core material,” she added, but without elaboration on how children would see the material, which they say was not on display.Inspectors found DVDs rated Restricted 18, which can only be supplied to licensed sex shops.
