BEIJING -- Beijing police detained seven people for producing and selling counterfeit cigarettes bearing the Beijing Olympic Games logo on the packaging, Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday.
Police confiscated 258 cartons of cigarettes and a large amount of packaging materials in a May 28 raid on a house in Chongwen district, in the southeast of the city.
More than 80 cartons had the brand names "Olympic Zhonghua" -- meaning "Olympic China" -- or "Olympic Beijing" and carried the Beijing Olympic logo, Xinhua said, citing the Chongwen Branch of Beijing Public Security Bureau.
Police also seized 238 cartons of counterfeit cigarettes, including 23 cartons sporting the Olympic logos, in a cigarette shop in the southwestern Fengtai District, after the suspects confessed to supplying the shop.
Beijing has been vigilant against counterfeit or unlicensed goods baring the logos of the Olympic Games, which begin on Aug 8.
It has also pledged to restrict smoking in most public places before the Games, although organizers admitted that banning smoking altogether in Beijing would be impossible.
