Dogs Bust Illegal DVD Ring

March 23, 2007 — -- Two dogs are giving the old phrase "take a bite out of crime" a whole new meaning.

Lucky and Flo are black Labrador retrievers with a price on their snouts. International crime lords ordered a hit on the hounds after they busted up a DVD piracy ring in Malaysia, uncovering nearly 1 million copied discs worth $2.8 million.

How did the dogs do it? They sniffed out the crime.

The Motion Picture Association of America spent nine months and $17,000 training Lucky and Flo to sniff for polycarbonates, the chemicals used to make the illegal discs.

The fake DVDs were reportedly hidden along with DVD burners and other tools on four floors of an office building in the southern Malaysian city of Johor Baru. Officials also arrested six men in the operation.

"The dogs are some of the greatest employees we have here at the MPAA," said Dan Glickman, president of the Motion Picture Association of America.

The MPAA said this is the first time authorities anywhere on Earth have used dogs to detect illegal DVDs. Last year the film industry lost $6 billion to piracy. And Malaysia is one of the world's top illegal movie producers and exporters, according to the MPAA.

"I would say that piracy and the protection of content generally is the biggest threat facing our industry," Glickman said.

But the biggest threat facing the crime fighting dogs could be the hit that's out on them. ABC News was assured they're safe at an undisclosed location.

In the movies, Lassie saves the kids and Benji saves the day. In real life, it might be Lucky and Flo that save the movies and the entire industry.