Nanjing Police have received a congratulatory message from China’s Ministry of Public Security for busting an inter-province gang which produced and sold fake beauty equipment, raking in ¥20 million. And they were caught after making a couple of brazen slip ups.
In recent years, the demand for products such as waxing heaters and beauty steamers has gone through the roof. With their high profit margins, so too there has developed a considerable counterfeit industry.
It started last month, when local food, drug and environmental investigation departments found a native of Anhui Province who was suspected of selling high-value, counterfeit beauty instruments and consumables in Nanjing.
Officers with the city’s Jiangning District public security went all out to trace the source. After collecting and analysing a large amount of evidence, the police found that since 2020, that individual had used his registered technology company to buy and sell fake beauty instruments together with two others.
Then they were to catch their first break. On 12 January, officers visited the technology company and what they found surprised them. Different from fake dens discovered in the past, the premises’ decoration was fresh and clean, while service was warm and thoughtful.
Customer service personnel even introduced the beauty instruments to the police on site, although were silent on the issue of fakes.
But unfortunately for them, a message from an internal mobile phone was suddenly overheard, claiming the firm to be representing a certain brand of beauty instruments.
Then came the kicker. Police checking the firm’s online interface for communicating with customers discovered a startling claim. “We have several brands; the price is preferential”, reports the Yangtze Evening News.
“We will make whatever brand customers want.”
Police realised they were on the verge. Tracing the supplier, on 26 January, officers were able to arrest six individuals engaged in manufacturing fake beauty instruments at a secret factory in Baiyun District of Guangzhou City.
When it was all over, Nanjing’s finest, in cooperation with other forces, had cracked the case and arrested 16 backbone members of the gang. Over 100 beauty outlets in more than 10 provinces and cities were involved, between them selling over ¥20 million in counterfeit equipment.
