British and Dutch police have shut down an online 'club' known as OiNK that has been described as the world's biggest source of illegal pre-release chart albums.

According to the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), the UK recording industry trade body, a 24-year old man was arrested in the UK during an operation co-ordinated by Interpol.

The raids follow a two-year investigation by the international music industry body, the IFPI, and the BPI into the members-only online pirate music club which specialised in distributing albums over the internet; often weeks ahead of their official release date.

Using Bit Torrent peer-to-peer technology to distribute the music, OiNK, which had an estimated membership of 180,000, released more than 60 major albums this year alone. According to the IFPI, this made it "the primary source worldwide for illegal pre-release music". The site made its money through a 'donations' account using Paypal.

Jeremy Banks, head of the IFPI's Internet Anti-Piracy Unit, said: "OiNK was central to the illegal distribution of pre-release music online. This was not a case of friends sharing music for pleasure. This was a worldwide network that got hold of music they did not own the rights to and posted it online.

"This operation was a classic example of how the recording industry can work with law enforcement agencies to prove that illegal operations on the internet are not immune from detection."

The site's servers were based in Amsterdam but the unnamed 24-year-old man alleged to have been operating OiNK was arrested in the Middlesbrough area.

Cleveland Police and the Fio-Ecd Schiphol branch of the Dutch police undertook the raids, supported by Interpol.