Two black Labradors are being used to detect DVDs and CDs in the fight against piracy.

The three-year-old females, Lucky and Flo, were trained in Ireland with the support of the Motion Picture Association (MPA), and are the first dogs in the world to be used in this way.

The canine crime busters have been visiting Mexico City, where the problem of piracy is particularly acute.

The dogs detect the scent of polycarbonate in the discs and do not differentiate between original and pirated discs.

But when brought to a customs area, for example, they can sniff out discs hidden in cargo that is declared to have something else inside, such as watches or clothes.

The pair have detected almost two million DVDs and CDs around the world to date.

They have travelled to countries such as the United States, Singapore, Malaysia, the Czech Republic and the Philippines to give demonstrations to local law enforcement officers.

John Malcolm, Director of Worldwide Anti-Piracy Operations for the MPA, said that now that they know how to train them, more dogs could be trained in around three months for a cost of approximately $10,000 - $15,000.

He said that on their first day of work in Malaysia, Lucky and Flo found a hidden warehouse containing one million pirated discs.

"These dogs have been so successful that the organised syndicates in two different countries have put out a contract to have the dogs killed," Mr Malcolm said.

These countries are Malaysia and the Czech Republic.

Other efforts by pirates to confuse the dogs, he said, such as spreading charcoal around the rooms where the illegal discs were being kept, were unsuccessful.

The MPA represents six of the largest film producers in the United States, including Paramount, Sony, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal, Buena Vista and Warner Brothers.

© Independent Television News Limited 2008. All rights reserved.