Vietnamese law enforcement has arrested and begun prosecuting seven suspects accused of running HiAnime, a massive anime piracy streaming service that drew hundreds of millions of visitors monthly before its shutdown in June 2026. The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) confirmed the action on Thursday, crediting a multi-year investigation conducted with support from Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Department of Justice.
Scale of the Operation
HiAnime originated on the Zoro.to domain before rebranding to Aniwatch in July 2023 and then to HiAnime in March 2024. At its peak, the platform temporarily outpaced legitimate streaming services including Disney+ and Crunchyroll in web traffic during late 2024 and into 2025. The service offered a library of English-subtitled and dubbed anime at no cost to users.
Prosecutors allege the defendants operated more than 100 websites hosting over 26,000 pirated anime titles, generating approximately $12.85 million in illegal advertising revenue between 2020 and April 2026. The platform’s notoriety earned it placement on both the European Commission’s Counterfeit and Piracy Watch List and the U.S. Trade Representative’s Notorious Markets list.
Charges and Custody Status
The seven defendants face charges of copyright infringement and money laundering. Four are currently detained, while the remaining three have been placed under house arrest. Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security, specifically its Economic Crimes Investigation Department (C03) and Department of Cybersecurity and High-Tech Crime Prevention (A05), led the domestic enforcement effort.
Broader Anti-Piracy Context
The HiAnime takedown follows a pattern of escalating enforcement against large-scale anime piracy infrastructure. In March 2026, ACE announced the dismantling of AnimePlay, another major platform that stored more than 60 terabytes of anime content and had accumulated over 5 million registered users. That operation involved taking hosting servers and web domains fully offline.
ACE, a coalition of more than 50 media and entertainment companies, stated it looks forward to continued collaboration with Vietnamese authorities on future anti-piracy actions. The coordinated international nature of the HiAnime investigation underscores the growing role of cross-border law enforcement partnerships in dismantling large piracy networks that operate across multiple jurisdictions and domain names.