A man from Wolverhampton has been arrested on suspicion of selling illegal streaming packages.

Officers from the Police Intellectual Property Crime Until (PIPCU) at City of London Police arrested the 38-year-old while executing a search warrant at a home in Wolverhampton in the early hours of October 15.

He was detained on suspicion of copyright and money laundering offences after he was suspected to have sold illegal streaming packages, which provided access to Sky channels, in bulk.

West Midlands Police assisted the PIPCU executing search warrants at four other business addresses in Wolverhampton and Coventry.

Officers seized a server that was being used to host the illegal streaming service at one of the addresses and shut it down.  

Detective Constable Daryl Fryatt, from PIPCU at City of London Police, said: “Illegal streaming is a huge issue for the entertainment and creative industries, and while it may seem like a low-risk, high-reward crime, the proceeds are used to fund other serious forms of criminal activity.

“At the same time, it can expose end users to the risks of data theft, fraud and malware.

“The message of this operation is clear: if you sell illegal streaming services, you will be caught and held to account for your actions.”

Matt Hibbert, group director of anti-piracy at Sky, said: “When people illegally stream they provide their personal information to criminals and the risks that result are very real.

“We are grateful to the police intellectual property crime unit for leading this action.

“We’ll continue to do everything we can to protect our content from theft, and to help keep consumers safe.”

The man has since been released pending further investigation.