(AFP) Government enforcement agency trying to stem a flood of pornographic VCDs warned today that buyers as well as sellers can be fined and jailed.

"We have been going after the dealers and now we will go after the buyers as a warning to others," said Mohamad Jani Jantan of the Home Affairs ministry's enforcement unit.

Mohamad Jani, enforcement chief in Perak, said enforcement officers and police were empowered to search homes or other premises without a warrant for pornography.

Those in possession of porn could be fined up to RM10,000 or jailed for six months, Bernama news agency quoted him as saying.

Mohamad Jani said pornographic VCDs (video compact discs) were now easily available and the trend was worrying.

During raids in Ipoh on Monday and Tuesday, officials seized 1,545 pornographic VCDs -- mostly from foreign countries including India, Indonesia and Pakistan.

Pearl Harbour porn

Mohamad Jani said dealers were now using titles of popular films to avoid detection.

"It worries us...members of the public will not know which is which. There are even pornographic cartoons," he said.

Officials recently seized copies of a pornographic "Pearl Harbor", with the first five minutes of the movie the same as the Hollywood original but the rest featuring hard-core porn.

Police have also launched a crackdown on pornography and will use internal banishment orders against offenders, according to a report yesterday.