A GANG of 28 has been detained for selling counterfeit watches overseas on the Internet, local police said yesterday.
The gang, led by a man surnamed Shi, bought fake Rolex, Hublot, Breitling and TagHauer watches on taobao.com for prices ranging from 50 yuan (US$8) to 200 yuan and then sold them on the Internet shopping platforms to the United States, United Kingdom and Brazil for US$30 to US$200, the Economic Crime Investigation Department of Shanghai police said yesterday.
More than 3,100 counterfeit watches as well as 500 Monster headphones and 300 scarves were found at the gang's hideouts during a police raid last month.
Preliminary investigation estimated the value of the seized goods at more than 80 million yuan.
"Most of their customers were from overseas and knew the watches, headphones and scarves were fake," said Ren Zhiqiang, a director of ECID.
"It has seriously dented the image of our country."
The illegal activity was discovered during an online patrol by the Shanghai police's Internet safety department early this year.
They later tipped off the ECID, Ren said.
"The wholesaler was in Guangdong Province who sold the watches to online buyers in Henan and Fujian provinces and in Shanghai. They in turn sold them overseas," Ren said.
On March 20, the police raided seven hideouts in Shanghai and caught 25 people with 600 fake watches, 500 fake headphones and 300 fake scarves.
Three other suspects were caught in other provinces and more than 2,500 fake watches were found on them.
"The gang's entire network has been busted," Ren said.
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