The "9·15" major case of manufacturing and selling counterfeit brand lamps cracked by Chongqing public security organs is a typical case of counterfeiting and selling fake goods.

The "9·15" major case of manufacturing and selling counterfeit brand lamps cracked by Chongqing public security organs is a typical case of counterfeiting and selling fake goods. Here are the details:

Case clues: In the first half of 2023, the Anti-Counterfeiting Corps of Chongqing Municipal Public Security Bureau learned during a discussion with local well-known lamp manufacturers that some consumers had complained about lamp quality issues. After identification, the enterprises confirmed that the lamps in question were counterfeit. The police found that the involved online stores had considerable sales volume, with prices much lower than the normal level. The trademarks were pasted irregularly, and there were product specifications not available from the brand. Subsequently, the clues were pushed to the Liangping District Public Security Bureau for filing and investigation.

Criminal chain: After investigation, the counterfeiting and selling gang, led by Long Moumou and others, gathered more than 40 fellow villagers and relatives to form a criminal network covering production and manufacturing, warehousing and transportation, and e-commerce sales since 2018, selling counterfeit products to more than 20 provinces and cities across the country. They rented factories in an industrial park to produce unmarked blank lamps, then pasted labels to pass them off as various domestic and foreign brand lamps and sold them through e-commerce platforms.

Modus operandi: The criminal gang privately engraved official seals of more than ten enterprises and units, forged quality inspection reports, and displayed propaganda such as "brand agency" and "factory direct sales" on online store pages to create the illusion of formal authorization. For large-volume buyers who placed bulk orders, they used talking points such as "unspoken rules of brand agency" to induce buyers to sign contracts without brand information and sell counterfeit lamps at low prices.

Police investigation process: The Liangping District Public Security Bureau set up the "9·15" task force. Police officers identified 23 online stores selling suspected counterfeit lamps through peripheral investigation. To avoid alerting the suspects, plainclothes police squatted under high temperatures, disguised themselves as couriers and tenants, and conducted in-depth investigations into 13 dens in urban-rural junctions, eventually mastering the structure of the gang members and criminal evidence.

Arrest results: On October 13, 2023, Chongqing Municipal Public Security Bureau organized the Liangping District Public Security Bureau to dispatch more than 100 police officers for a centralized arrest operation. They arrested 47 suspects, seized more than 90,000 sets of counterfeit brand lighting fixtures (finished and semi-finished products), more than 280,000 sets of counterfeit trademarks and other packaging materials, recovered more than 3 million yuan in economic losses for enterprises, seized items worth nearly 15 million yuan, and the amount of money involved in the whole case exceeded 150 million yuan.