Futian police, in cooperation with the market supervision and anti-counterfeit team of Alibaba Group, closed a workshop that was illegally producing and selling herbal liquor.
Nine people were detained for being involved in sales totaling more than 10 million yuan (US$1.57 million).
The liquor, which contains the illegal additive silaenafil, was banned from the market by the State Food and Drug Administration in 2015. The factory had been closed and the brand had been cancelled, but police and the market supervision department found the liquor was still being sold online via e-commerce and social media platforms. Police also received reports from some consumers that they developed uncomfortable symptoms after drinking the liquor.
It is illegal to add silaenafil to foods or health-care products. Long-term use of the drug could pose a threat to health.
The police investigation found a shop in Guangzhou was selling the product online. In an action, police detained the shop operator and seized 200 bottles of the liquor. Police later caught the shop owner and his spouse, who were on the run, in Conghua, Guangzhou.
After the factory was closed, some employees sold the inventory to customers, including the shop owner surnamed Zhang.
A man surnamed Pi, a salesperson at the factory, started his own workshop using the recipes, and a man surnamed Wen started making the liquor in Huizhou and hired his town fellow, He, to be responsible for production. Wen sold the product to the loyal customers in Shenzhen after beginning production in August 2016.
The product was sold at 588 yuan per bottle. A bottle of 100 ml of the liquor can be sold for 128 yuan, as the seller boasted that the health-care liquor had a unique function similar to Viagra pills.
Pi was detained at his residence in Changsha.
The case is still under investigation.