HiAnime Operators Arrested in Vietnam After World’s Biggest Anime Piracy Site Shut Down

Vietnamese authorities have arrested seven people believed to be behind HiAnime, the anime streaming platform that was the world’s largest piracy site of its kind until it went dark earlier this year. The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), the anti-piracy coalition backed by the Motion Picture Association, confirmed the action on 2 July 2026, closing the book on a site that once outdrew Disney+ in the United States.

❗️ The world’s biggest anime piracy site HiAnime’s suspected operators have been arrested in Vietnam.

Vietnamese police say the group ran 100+ piracy sites since 2020, uploaded 26,000+ films, and pulled in roughly $12.85 million in ad revenue. Four suspects are in custody; three… pic.twitter.com/WrH8xbWs34

— International Cyber Digest (@IntCyberDigest) July 5, 2026

Four of the seven suspects are in custody. The remaining three have been barred from leaving their place of residence while the investigation continues. As of 6 July 2026, the suspects have not been publicly named and formal charges have not been detailed.

What Vietnamese Authorities Found

The operation was carried out by Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security, specifically C03, the Economic Crimes Investigation Department, and A05, the Department of Cybersecurity and High-Tech Crime Prevention. The group is accused of running a network of more than 100 websites between 2020 and April 2026, uploading over 26,000 films without authorisation and earning approximately $12.85 million in advertising revenue across the sites.

US Homeland Security Investigations and the Department of Justice were credited for their support in what ACE described as a multi-year investigation. In its statement, ACE said the action demonstrates a determination to pursue all avenues to disrupt and dismantle illegal streaming networks, reinforcing the protection of the creative community worldwide.

The Crackdown Behind the Arrests

The arrests did not happen in isolation. Vietnam was designated a Priority Foreign Country in the US Trade Representative’s 2026 Special 301 Report, which cited shortcomings in the country’s intellectual property enforcement. The Vietnamese government subsequently launched a nationwide enforcement campaign between 7 and 30 May 2026, targeting high-traffic platforms distributing unauthorised content.

HiAnime itself went dark on 13 March 2026, leaving a short farewell message, days after the US Trade Representative added it to its annual list of notorious piracy markets. The operators confirmed a permanent shutdown on 1 June. Until this week, the reason for the closure was never officially explained.

A Giant With Three Names

HiAnime did not start as HiAnime. The platform launched as Zoro.to, which was already being described as the world’s largest pirate site by 2023. It rebranded to Aniwatch in July 2023 and again to HiAnime in March 2024, a common tactic among piracy operations trying to shake off legal pressure.

The rebrands did nothing to slow its growth. After rival platform AniWave closed in August 2024, HiAnime absorbed much of its audience and recorded 364 million monthly visits in October 2024, briefly outdrawing Disney+ in the United States, according to traffic data reported at the time.

Part of a Wider Piracy Purge

The HiAnime shutdown is the latest in a rapidly growing trend of illegal anime and manga hosting sites going dark, driven by efforts from government officials in the US and worldwide, alongside Japanese copyright holders such as Shueisha, publisher of Weekly Shonen Jump. Three of the world’s biggest illegal manga hosting sites, Harimanga, Manhwaclan and Kunmanga, were recently shut down through coordinated action by Korean and Vietnamese authorities, having sat on Naver Webtoon’s watchlist since 2023.

The push extends well beyond Asia. Earlier this year, a seven-month Europol operation shut down over 27,000 illegal streaming sites across 13 countries. With anime now viewed as a highly profitable venture worldwide, both for streaming services hungry for content and for Hollywood studios chasing the next live-action trend, the pressure on piracy platforms shows no sign of easing.