Porn flood

Press, 31 August 1977, Page 8

Porn flood

NZPA London The United States, Britain, and a dozen other countries are being flooded with hardcore pornographic books, magazines, and movies smuggled in from a porn bloc of European countries in a booming illegal racket, the “Daily Telegraph” has reported. The conservative newspaper said that a major investigation in Britain, the Netherlands, and Scandinavia by its reporte s showed that obscene mat • rial with a retail value of several million poun s I enters Britain alone eveiy year. | The traffic is part of a world-wide clandestine trade in pornography, it said in a I front-page report. It listed Japan, Italy, France, and Latin America among other areas where sales of material from the porn bloc is booming. The paper said the bulk of the material is produced in Denmark and West Germa ny, with smaller quantities in Sweden. The Dutch port of Rotterdam, it claimed, is one of the main distribution centres. It said its investigators found that one Dutch wholesaler imports 20 tonnes of porn from Copenhagen every week. Hard pom Is legal in these four countries, but it is banned in Britain and most other countries. The “Telegraph” said the pornographic books and movies are smuggled into Britain hidden in sealed freight containers not usually inspected by Customs authorities under European Common Market trade treaties.