Police crack down on counterfeit traditional Chinese medicine gang

Police in Jilin province have cracked down on a gang making counterfeit traditional Chinese medicine Angong Niuhuang pills, worth an estimated 120 million yuan ($16.4 million), the China Central Television reported on Sunday.

The investigation began in February after a citizen surnamed Pan reported to the police that the Angong Niuhuang pills he purchased online looked and felt like fake products. Subsequent testing confirmed Pan's suspicions, revealing that the pills contained neither bezoar nor musk, two rare ingredients essential to the medicine's effectiveness.

Angong Niuhuang pills are commonly used to treat strokes and cerebral thrombosis. Taking counterfeit pills can be life-threatening in an emergency, as they do not have the same effect as the real products, said Ding Peichen, deputy director of the public security bureau in Baishan, where the investigation began.

Following the trail of counterfeit drugs from the online shop that sold them to Pan, police identified a man surnamed Li from Suzhou, Jiangsu province, as the primary source of the fake pills. Li had established a nationwide illegal sales network in over 20 provinces.

Further investigations uncovered the illicit production of the counterfeit medicine in Anguo, a county-level city in Hebei province.

In a coordinated operation, police arrested a total of 26 suspects and dismantled 18 fake drug factories and warehouses. They seized over 500,000 boxes of finished and semi-finished counterfeit medicines, with an estimated value exceeding 120 million yuan.

Police said the counterfeit pills were produced using various unidentified powders, honey, and wax. The cost of production was less than one yuan per pill, but the fake pills were sold for tens or even hundreds of times that price.

Pan, for example, purchased the counterfeit pills for only half the price of the genuine medicine.

Police reminded the public to purchase medications from legitimate and reliable sources. If suspecting of having purchased counterfeit medicine, the public are advised to promptly report it to the authorities.