China's police forces take group action in combating fake medicines

Police forces in China's different regions on Thursday morning launched a group action as part of a campaign to combat the production and sale of fake medicines, the Ministry of Public Security said. Police in 29 province-level regions will work under the command of the ministry and cooperate with the food and drug administrative authorities in raiding sites linked to criminal activity by investigations, the ministry said in a statement Thursday. According to the statement, as of Wednesday, the campaign has investigated 790 cases of medicines counterfeiting nationwide and targeted over 1,000 suspects involved. The police have collected substantive evidence on 18 major cases, including one uncovered in July involving a group suspected of producing and selling counterfeit medicines in regions of Zhejiang, Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong, the statement said.