Family-style counterfeit Niulanshan Erguotou, with a dedicated online network developing over 100 downstream sellers nationwide. In July 2017, police from the Food, Drug, and Environment Crime Investigation Brigade of the Daxing'anling Regional Public Security Bureau discovered someone promoting Niulanshan Erguotou below market price during routine visits, which led to a counterfeit gang with a manufacturing base in a Hebei village and Beijing as a transit point for nationwide sales. The gang purchased bulk liquor from distilleries, made their own packaging, and even produced anti-counterfeit codes, making the product indistinguishable from the real thing to the average person. On August 29, 2018, police in Beijing's Daxing District, Zhuozhou City in Hebei, and Ruichang City in Jiangxi arrested all 8 members of the criminal gang led by Qian and Guo, dismantled 4 production sites, and seized over 300 boxes of counterfeit Niulanshan liquor. The gang's sales network involved 147 people across 15 provinces and cities, and they had already sold over 70,000 bottles of counterfeit Niulanshan Erguotou, with an involved amount exceeding 40 million yuan. Routine visits: Low-priced liquor catches police attention In July 2017, during routine visits, police from the Daxing'anling Regional Public Security Bureau's Food, Drug, and Environment Crime Investigation Brigade received reports from restaurants about someone promoting low-priced Niulanshan Erguotou. "Generally, a restaurant buys a bottle of Niulanshan Erguotou for 14-16 yuan. This person offered a promotion: buy a case of 12 bottles and get 3-4 free, which lowered the average price per bottle," said the visiting officer. After checking several small restaurants and finding similar situations, they contacted the local authorized distributor of Niulanshan Erguotou and learned that no such promotion existed. After investigation, they identified the same person, Zheng, as the supplier to multiple small restaurants. Following him for several days, they confirmed his identity and detained him, then searched his rented warehouse, finding over a dozen boxes of Niulanshan Erguotou labeled liquor. After preliminary understanding of the case, the Daxing'anling Regional Public Security Bureau filed a case for investigation. Clear division of labor: Family workshop-style counterfeit team Zheng confessed that since August 2016, to obtain high illegal profits, he had purchased large quantities of counterfeit Niulanshan Erguotou bottled liquor from a man named Guo in Beijing and illegally sold it in the local catering industry, with significant sales. "He usually targeted small restaurants; some people were greedy for bargains and bought from him." Subsequently, the Daxing'anling Regional Public Security Bureau immediately established the "7·13" special task force, conducting multi-departmental joint operations. They successfully identified the suspect and his Beijing upstream contact Guo. The task force immediately went to Beijing, Hebei, and other places, initially grasping information about the family-style counterfeit gang led by the Qian father and son, based in Zhuozhou, Hebei. It is understood that Yihezhuang Village is located at the border of Hebei and Beijing, with many temporary residents and complex relationships. After extensive investigation, the task force discovered 4 production sites and 2 warehouses for storing counterfeit liquor. "One main site was responsible for filling, while others did auxiliary work such as making caps and scanning codes," police said. They seized over 300 boxes of counterfeit Niulanshan liquor on the spot. After extensive evidence collection, the task force obtained fixed evidence to completely destroy this counterfeit and sales network, and launched a comprehensive operation on August 29 this year. Police in Beijing's Daxing District, Zhuozhou City in Hebei, and Ruichang City in Jiangxi arrested all 8 members of the criminal gang led by Qian and Guo, dismantled 4 production sites, seized over 300 boxes of counterfeit Niulanshan liquor, 6 vehicles involved, and a large number of fake trademarks, caps, and production machines. Among the 4 production sites, each had a clear division of labor: "Aunts, uncles, fathers, and mothers were responsible for washing bottles, scanning codes, filling, and labeling, forming a family-integrated counterfeit team." ■ Follow-up Counterfeit technology constantly updated: Anti-counterfeit codes can be indistinguishable from genuine The case officer introduced that they contacted the Intellectual Property Department of Niulanshan Erguotou Liquor Company and sent the seized fake liquor for comparison. The comparison revealed that the production technology of this batch of fake liquor was already very sophisticated. "Last year we also cracked down on a batch of fake liquor, but this year's seized items are clearly different; the technology is constantly updating, and anti-counterfeit labels have been added," the officer said. The gang added equipment worth over 100,000 yuan each, capable of laser-scanning anti-counterfeit codes on bottles, which to the naked eye are indistinguishable from genuine distillery codes. The suspect pointed out the machines used in the workshop during the on-site identification. Police seized counterfeit Niulanshan Erguotou bottle caps. Only when placed next to genuine products and carefully examined can one see that genuine bottle caps are shiny, while fake ones are duller, and the font on the bottle has slight differences. The taste also differs, "but only regular drinkers can tell the difference." If looking at a single bottle, non-professionals cannot determine authenticity. The profit per bottle of fake liquor is staggering. The Qian family's cost to produce one bottle of fake liquor is only 2.8 yuan, the downstream purchase price is about 60 yuan per case (about 5 yuan per bottle), while restaurants buy at 14-16 yuan per bottle. Even with 4 free bottles per case, the downstream profit is more than double. The officer noted that counterfeit teams are now "learning the law." "They have become smarter; they don't blend liquor themselves but buy cheap bulk liquor to bottle." The officer said that in previous anti-counterfeit cases, counterfeiters would blend their own liquor, which could easily harm human health. Now, counterfeit gangs wholesale cheap liquor from legitimate bulk liquor suppliers and then bottle it, so although the liquor is "fake," it does little harm to the body. "Infringing intellectual property rights, the address, and being toxic and harmful to the human body are two different natures, and the sentencing after arrest is also different." The officer said the gang also buys a batch of genuine liquor bottles and mixes them with self-made fake bottles, then fills them with bulk liquor, making it even harder to distinguish. Developing multi-level network sales distributed across 15 provinces and cities Through investigation, police gradually clarified the gang's basic sales model. In July 2016, wanting to "make big money," the Qian family and Guo conspired: the Qian father and son led their family to find a hidden village at the border of Beijing and Hebei to specialize in making fake liquor, while Guo was responsible for "expanding the market and external sales." Guo spread information about selling low-priced liquor online, then gathered a group of downstream sellers connected through QQ groups. Guo's downstream sellers then developed further downstream sellers, forming a multi-level distribution sales team. Yihezhuang was not their first stop; they had previously made liquor in Efang Village, Daxing, Beijing for over a year, but had to move to the more remote and hidden Yihezhuang Village due to local demolition. Illegal sales personnel from various places sent orders and payments to their upstream Guo. Guo then informed the production head Qian of the order quantity, and Qian's father, Qian Liang, filled the bottles, packaged them, and shipped them via logistics to Guo's designated receiving address. Preliminary statistics show that the gang's sales network involved 147 people across 15 provinces and cities, with an involved amount exceeding 40 million yuan. "Fake liquor was found in Beijing, Guangdong, Guangxi, Shandong, Liaoning, Hunan, Hubei, and other places. Preliminary investigation found that this counterfeit team had sold over 70,000 bottles of fake liquor," the case officer introduced. The gang had done careful preparatory work, including market research, discovering that Beijing and surrounding areas have a huge consumption of Niulanshan Erguotou, so their production sites were always around Beijing. This brand is affordable, with high sales volume and profit, which is one of the reasons they chose this brand. Source: Beijing News -END-