Third big F.B.I. swoop
NZPA Washington American Federal Bureau of Investigation agents fanned out over 11 states yesterday to arrest 54 people on pornography and film-piracy charges and to search 30 businesses in the culmination of a lengthy under-cover investigation.
The Attorney-General (Mr Benjamin ' Civiletti) _an-_
nounced that 45 people had been indicted in Miami on pornography charges and 13 people on film piracy counts as a result of the 2-J-year under-cover investigation, code-named Miporn. An F. 8.1. spokesman said one potnography kingpin, an organised crime ' figure, Michael Zafferano, had dropped dead of a heart at-
[tack in New York City as F. 8.1. agents were trying to find him to serve him with an arrest warrant.
The Miporn case became the third big F. 8.1. undercover operation to be made public in the last two weeks. The F. 8.1. director (Mr William Webster) said those indicted in the pornography case included some of the biggest producers and distributors of hard-core pornography in the $4OOO mil-lion-a-year industry. Mr Webster said the alleged pirating and distribution of important motion pictures had cost the legitimate motion-picture industry some $7OO million a year. Mr Civiletti said 54 arrest warrants were issued in Miami and some 400 F. 8.1. agents were seeking those named. The agents were conducting searches at 30 businesses allegedly involved in the pornography and piracy schemes.
Third big F.B.I. swoop
Press, 16 February 1980, Page 9
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