A new police unit to tackle illegal downloads and counterfeit DVDs and CDs has carried out its first raids and arrested two men. The police intellectual property crime unit (PIPCU), which launched on Friday, is being run by City of London police and has government funding of £2.56m over two years.

Detectives arrested two men in Birmingham and seized suspected counterfeit DVD box sets worth around £40,000, including titles such as Game of Thrones, CSI and Vampire Diaries.

The pair, aged 28 and 29, are suspected of importing thousands of counterfeit box sets and selling them online as genuine products.

City of London police commissioner Adrian Leppard said: "Intellectual property crime is already costing our economy hundreds of millions of pounds a year and placing thousands of jobs under threat, and left unchecked and free to feed on new technology could destroy some of our most creative and productive industries.

"Launching PIPCU we are making a statement of intent and sending out a clear warning to organised crime that the UK has just become a more hostile place for those who seek to make criminal capital on the back of others' honest endeavours."

The unit will focus particularly on online offences. City of London police said that around seven million people a month visit sites that offer illegal content in the UK, and they said globally it is estimated that illegally downloaded music, films and software cost the industry around $80bn (£51bn) a year. That figure could triple by 2015 according to the BASCAP Global impacts Study.

The unit is being funded by the intellectual property office, which is part of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Lord Younger, the minister for intellectual property, said: "Criminals are continually finding new ways to exploit, produce fakes and abuse the intellectual property rights of British businesses, despite the progress made combating intellectual property crime.

"It not only damages the UK economy, but substandard goods and services can pose real threats to consumers too. Intelligent, co-ordinated and effective enforcement is key to tackling those who exploit the hard work of others."

• This article was amended on Wednesday 16 October 2013 to add a link to the BASCAP Global impacts Study.

