BEIJING, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- China's Ministry of Public securities says Chinese police handled more than 4,600 counterfeit and inferior goods cases from January to November of 2006.
An MPS official said more than 5,000 criminals were arrested in connection with the cases, and the counterfeit and inferior goods are valued at $164 million, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.
The official said that throughout 2006, Chinese police officers investigated many serious criminal cases that involved farming materials, food, medicines and building materials.
One case involved the deaths of 11 people due to inferior drugs provided by the Qiqihar No. 2 Pharmaceutical Company.
It was reported in May that patients taking the defective drugs developed acute kidney failure due to diglycol in the medicine, which was supposed to help gall-bladder problems but actually caused kidneys to fail.
The police said they broke up counterfeit cigarette networks in Guangdong, Fujian, Shandong, Jiangsu, Yunnan and Sichuan.
