Han Ximin

    ximhan@126.com

    SHENZHEN police busted a ring that was selling cheap liquor disguised as expensive foreign brands. The seized counterfeit liquor had a market value of about 20 million yuan (US$3.17 million).

    At a press conference yesterday, police said 19 suspects had been seized, six of them having been approved for arrest.

    Police acted on a clue provided by whistleblowers on Jan. 12. After a five-month investigation police stormed three sites being used to store the fake liquor and closed five shops selling the liquor in Longgang District.

    The ringleaders, surnamed Huang and Lin, started disguising cheap alcohol as foreign brands since last October, said Huang Qiuquan, a senior official with the Shenzhen Municipal Public Security Bureau.

    The ring could make 30 cartons of counterfeit alcohol each day.

    Police seized 3,100 filled bottles, 11,000 empty bottles and 500 kilograms of cheap liquor.

    The bust is part of a wider crackdown on unsafe food and drugs over the past months.

    So far this year, authorities have closed 272 unlicensed workshops making drugs and foods. Police have cracked down 282 cases of counterfeit drug manufacturing, 225 cases of unlicensed health care product manufacturing and 149 cases of below-standard food products.

    Residents are encouraged to call 2222-2110 to report food and drug crimes.

    Chinese people have been shocked by the many food safety scandals in recent years, including chemical-injected pork, recycled cooking oil being used in restaurants and the sale of pork from sick pigs.

    A new food safety law will take effect tomorrow.

    It was approved by the country’s legislature in April. The new law levies a heavier punishment on offenders.

    Under the law, consumers can demand reparations three times any loss they suffer from substandard food. Previously, only compensation of 10 times the selling price of the food was allowed.

    Bigger fines for offenders are also on the menu. Producers may face fines of up to 30 times the value of their products while previously 10 times was the limit. If the products are worth less than 10,000 yuan, the fine may reach 150,000 yuan, three times the previous amount.

    (Related story on P2)