Chinese police arrest 114 for producing, selling counterfeit drugs

Chinese Police have seized more than 65 million imitation medicinal tablets and arrested 114 suspects in a cross-provincial raid on counterfeit drugs, the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) said in a statement Friday. The suspects were found to have used starch or corn powder as ingredients for bogus medicine, or re-packaged expired pharmaceuticals, the ministry said, citing the police investigation. Police also found animal feed and chemical pigments in the counterfeit products. Some suspects had also added iron powder, incitant and diazepam into the fake medicine. Police launched a four-month investigation after finding that a woman in Kaifeng, a city in central Henan province, replaced genuine medicines with phoney products in pharmacies in January. Police broke up 117 dens that produced or sold fake medicine during the recent raid that was jointly launched by more than 1,000 policemen in the provinces of Henan, Guangdong, Hebei and Anhui. The fake drug producers sold the counterfeit medicine under the names of reputable pharmaceutical companies via websites or fraudulent advertisements in newspapers and magazines, according to the MPS. Most of the fake drugs were sold to clinics and pharmacies in rural-urban fringe or rural areas, it said. Authorities have announced several major crackdowns this year in various areas after safety scandals broke out involving items ranging from drugs to wine. The recent move is part of a renewed national campaign that started in November last year to crack down on the violations of intellectual property rights (IPRs) and the production and distribution of fraudulent and shoddy products. The government has been cracking down on IPRs violations by launching frequent, high-profile raids and destroying seized materials.