Beijing cops' iPhone swoop knocks out counterfeit mobe makers

Police in Beijing have closed down a counterfeit iPhone manufacturing operation which employed hundreds of workers to produce more than 41,000 fake handsets in 2015 alone.

The bootleg business was not named in the police statement, but reportedly first came to the authorities' attention following the seizure of counterfeit goods in the United States this May.

As the Wall Street Journal reported, subsequent investigations revealed six hidden production lines of the dodgy handsets, which had produced tens of thousands of counterfeit goods to be flogged to oversea locations.

Nine suspects have been taken into custody, according to the police statement (needs Sina Weibo login).

The criminal enterprise's efforts so far this year are reported to have seen more than 41,000 knock-off mobes exported, alongside roughly 66,000 ribbon cables, for a total of about $19.4m in criminal revenue.

The WSJ reports that "according to the police statement, a 43-year-old male suspect surnamed Yu and his 40-year-old wife, surnamed Xie, bought used mobile mainboards from foreign countries and fake parts bearing logos from the southern Chinese technology hub of Shenzhen."

The couple from Shenzhen then hired workers to assemble the knock-offs in Beijing, for sale abroad, according to the police, who also revealed that the six production lines were concealed "in a bonded industrial zone under the guise of an electronic gadget maintenance company." ®