On October the twenty ninth the Zhongshan public service bureau made an announcement that the local police arrested six suspects involved with a fake alcohol operation that amassed RMB17 million in the Guangdong prefecture-level city. According to the Southern Daily, the Zhongshan authorities have been investigating the syndicate since June, along with the Wu Gui Shan sub-bureau assigning a special investigation team to handle the case.
After spending two weeks tracking down the criminals, the police located their fake alcohol factory in a neighbourhood in Dongsheng village, but luck would have it that the production was moved at the moment the investigation team were preparing to bust the operation.
Then on September19th, the authorities intercepted the gang’s delivery truck and seized over 300 bottles of fake liquor labelled as VSOP and XO cognac, with big brand names such as Hennessy. The delivery driver was then used to lead the police to the gangs headquarters.
Upon arriving, the police seized more than 100 bottles of fake booze and ingredients and equipment to produce more. Where they arrested two more suspects, who made confessions which lead to the arrest of another accomplice.
The following day, police arrested three more suspects, a seller and two buyers at a restaurant on the outskirts of Zhongshan, which in turn led them to three warehouses in the area, where more that 200 cases of fake ‘high-quality’ spirits were being stored.
The investigation revealed that three men were responsible for production and another three were procuring the materials, which included low-grade spirit and high quality packaging. The fakes were being sold on line to buyers around the country. The gang is estimated to have made RMB17 million through their illegal operation. In total six men have been detained and will be charged for producing and selling fake products.