Xinhua All Media+｜An empty bottle sells for hundreds or even thousands of dollars! Real bottled bulk wine becomes "Moutai"
Xinhua Daily Telegraph reporters Zhao Jiulong, Yang Dingmiao, Zheng Shengzhu
Recently, the liquor market has been relatively hot.
According to the data from Tianyan Check, there are more than 160,000 liquor-related enterprises in my country. There is a wave of production expansion of liquor enterprises and the increase in criminal cases of producing and selling fake and inferior liquor in some places has aroused widespread concern.
On the second-hand trading platform, the unit price of Feitian Moutai empty wine bottles ranges from more than one hundred yuan to several thousand yuan; cheap bulk wine is poured into recycled real bottles in small workshops, and it becomes a mid-to-high-end famous wine. Tobacco hotels and restaurants appeared...
Not long ago, Jiangsu police cracked a series of cases involving the production and sale of counterfeit wines involving more than 10 million yuan, destroyed 25 counterfeit dimples, and arrested 22 suspects.
Which channels are used for the recycling of liquor bottles?
How to pour bulk wine into brand-name wine bottles to achieve fake and real?
How to build a distribution network for "Li Guijiu"?
Why do such illegal and criminal acts continue to be fought?
Xinhua Daily Telegraph reporter went to the detention center to interview the suspect exclusively, and invited the police handling the case to show up...
Counterfeit liquor is rampant, and trade in empty bottles is rampant
More than 500 boxes of high-end liquors such as counterfeit Moutai, Wuliangye, Shuijingfang, Yanghe Dream series, and more than 100,000 pieces of various fake liquor packaging materials, signs and signs were seized on the spot, with a value of more than 10 million yuan... At the end of 2020, Nantong City Public Security Bureau, Jiangsu Province The Food, Drug and Environmental Crime Investigation Division of the Bureau organized the Food, Drug and Environmental Crime Investigation Brigade of the Public Security Bureau of Rugao City and more than 150 capable police officers in 17 police stations to carry out a special campaign to combat illegal crimes involving the production and sale of counterfeit and shoddy alcoholic products.
According to the police handling the case, since December 2019, criminal suspects such as Ma Mouzhi, Gao Mouru, Ping Mou and others have purchased Yanghe Daqu, Yanghe Lanyou, Jinliufu, and Moutai Yingbin Liquor, and produced irrigation. High-end counterfeit wines such as Moutai, Wuliangye, Shuijingfang, and Yanghe series are installed and sold to more than 20 tobacco and alcohol business departments in surrounding counties and cities.
Since 2019, the criminal suspect Mazhi has purchased counterfeit registered trademarks of Jiangsu Yanghe Winery Co., Ltd., Jiangsu Shuanggou Winery Co., Ltd., Sichuan Yibin Wuliangye Group Co., Ltd., and Guizhou Moutai Wine Co., Ltd. from others. Packing materials, organize workers to directly fill Yanghe Puqu, Yanghe Premium Daqu, Jinliufu, Moutai Yingbin and other liquors into high-priced liquor bottles of the same brand in their own or rented houses, and pack them into boxes for sale.
“This series of cases integrates the recycling of old wine bottles, bottling, and distribution.” Sun Jian, instructor of the Food, Drug and Environmental Crime Investigation Brigade, Rugao City Public Security Bureau, introduced that there are generally three channels for the recycling of empty wine bottles. One is in the purchase of waste products. The second is to buy from the hotel staff, and the third is to buy from a certain place in Zhejiang. You can also buy packing boxes, wine boxes, bottle caps, anti-counterfeiting labels, QR codes and other consumables.
"I have also seen cases where the bottom of the liquor bottle is cut off and the bottle is completely new, which is beyond imagination."
"Online" and "underground" transactions of empty wine bottles are rampant.
The reporter's investigation found that on second-hand trading platforms such as Xianyu and Zhuanzhuan, as well as Baidu Tieba, liquor bottles and foreign wine bottles are mostly sold in the name of decorations. Some quotes are 0.1 yuan but require offline transactions to re-negotiate the price, and the seller specifies the transaction. Location, some are clearly marked and can be mailed.
The reporter asked some idle fish sellers and found that the Feitian Moutai bottles produced in 2020 and 2018 were quoted at 150 yuan and 290 yuan for a single bottle, respectively. "The Feitian Moutai bottle produced in 2016 was priced at 500 yuan per bottle, and the seller said "there is a streamer, no organic code."
The investigation found that certain vintage bottles, empty bottles with complete caps after opening, and anti-counterfeiting chips can be sold for more than 100 yuan or even nearly 1,000 yuan, and the 50-year recycling price of Maotai empty wine bottles is as high as several thousand yuan. Moutai's iconic red ribbons, rubber caps, trademark stickers, anti-counterfeiting labels, wine inspectors and other accessories are all available online.
Real bottled new wine, order-based production, and serious part-time business
The reporter went to the detention center to interview the suspect Gao Mouru exclusively, and invited the policeman who handled the case to show up and reveal the general routine of bottled liquor:
——New wine in a real bottle, exquisite taste.
According to Miao Xingjun, head of the Food, Drug and Environmental Crime Investigation Team of the Public Security Bureau of Rugao City, general family workshops are the main production, and it is more common for a family to join the battle. Low-grade wines with similar taste are filled into medium- and high-end wine bottles.
Wash the bottles first, some with tap water, and some with a few yuan a bottle of low-grade wine.
Then it is filled, and some are covered with stockings and poured directly into the funnel.
Then put on the caps of the purchased bottles, and then label them and pack them in a carton.
"A box of'Dream Blue M3' can be poured and sold for about 700 yuan."
The taste of "material selection" for filling liquor is exquisite.
The reporter learned that cheap wines from the same wine company are generally used for filling high-end wines.
"When you get older, filling baijiu will cost you money quickly, but it is also a handicraft. Some wines take about an hour to fill a bottle, and you must choose something with a similar taste." Gao said, "Strictly speaking. It's not fake wine, it's not dead to drink."
——Order-based production, it is difficult not to stock up on alcohol.
According to Sun Jian, the bottling of liquor is transferred to the "underground", and the offenders use the order-based production method. Some valet processing only earns processing fees, which is extremely concealed and difficult to fight, sentence, and convict.
"They can only produce as much as they need for the next home. Some even complete the entire filling process in the car on the way to delivery. They don't usually stock up, but there are stable supply channels for bottles, trademarks, QR codes, boxes, etc." Sun Jian said that some buyers have prepared the high-priced Yanghe Daqu and hired people to fill the Dream Blue series of liquor for rural banquets.
"More often, I earn some processing fees. I place orders and even prepare low-end wine and high-end wine bottles. I help with filling, usually no more than 10 boxes. My profit here is not high. "Gao Mouru said.
The Yan Hotel concealed the sale of fake dens.
"During the case, it was discovered that the suspect Pei had developed three offlines, and all opened smoking hotels. Pei did not stock up, but only produced after receiving orders. The purchase amounted to about 1 million yuan in 4 years, let alone sales. At first. There is a situation of collusion and a strong sense of anti-reconnaissance." Sun Jian said that liquor is a consumable, and there are few physical objects seized in the case, making it difficult to obtain evidence.
——Concurrent employment is serious, and it is prone to recurrence after a blow.
"Most of the perpetrators have previous convictions." Sun Jian introduced that criminals conduct more cash transactions, making it more difficult to strike, and it is easy to reissue after strikes.
The reporter's investigation found that many lawbreakers themselves have legitimate jobs, but to make quick money, or part-time bottling "Li Guijiu" for profit, or help their family members purchase materials, contact the next home, etc., jointly produce and sell fakes.
The division of labor in this gray industry has become more refined, and the circulation links have made more profits, which has driven the upstream counterfeiting to be endless.
——Fake wine also has the "anti-counterfeiting" mark, which can be changed into "genuine" by wearing a "vest".
The evidence room of the Rucheng Central Police Station of the Public Security Bureau of Rugao City is full of fake wine, as well as counterfeit registered trademarks, anti-counterfeiting signs, fake wine packaging boxes, and packing tapes.
The policeman handling the case, Ji Hao, told reporters that if the wine is not opened for inspection, it is difficult for ordinary consumers to distinguish the true from the false with the naked eye.
Ji Hao showed reporters a bottle of fake "Wuliangye" confiscated, and found that there was an anti-counterfeiting code on the top of the box, and it was marked "Using NFC-enabled mobile phones to verify the authenticity", and also printed on the Wuliangye anti-counterfeiting website and anti-counterfeiting query App Download 2 Dimension code.
"We didn't distinguish between the authenticity and the fake. We asked professionals from the anti-counterfeiting department of liquor companies to help in the identification."
Strictly crack down on counterfeit production and sales in multiple departments and the whole chain
my country is the world's largest producer and consumer of liquor.
In recent years, various places have stepped up efforts to crack down on the production and sale of counterfeit and inferior liquor. Now the market environment has improved, but this ash production is very easy to regenerate.
Industry insiders believe that "Li Guijiu" threatens the health of consumers, and will also have an impact on the normal production and sales of drinks and disrupt the market order.
How do these "li ghost wine" flow to the market?
According to the case handling personnel, distributors in the liquor industry are important promoters. They are called "pourers" in the industry. They are sold to rural supermarkets, small tobacco hotels, and small restaurants. Some are filled directly into rural banquets and banquets, while others flow into them. Urban consumption places.
"It was discovered during the case that there was a'pouring wine' next home, specializing in wedding banquets in the countryside, and a lot of travel." Sun Jian said.
The investigation found that after the bottled high-end liquor is in the hands of consumers, it is mostly used as gifts, and some are used to pay off debts. There is a strange phenomenon of "buyers do not drink, drinkers do not buy".
Some criminal suspects used Internet communication tools to find buyers, and then sold the "Li Guijiu" to liquor dealers by way of freight consignment. The downstream also sold the liquor at the price of real liquor, or sold it at a lower price per bottle.
The price of a box of Flying Moutai is only more than 1,000 yuan, and a box of Yanghe "Dream Blue M3" only sells for a few hundred yuan...In the face of the temptation of huge profit margins, some small tobacco hotels acted as "li ghosts".
The reporter learned from the Jiangsu Provincial Public Security Bureau that similar cases have recently been cracked in many places in Jiangsu.
"Sentences are based on the actual sales price. After arriving at the court, they are generally sentenced to crimes of producing and selling counterfeit goods or counterfeiting registered trademarks, etc. However, it is extremely difficult to obtain evidence, and some cannot be sentenced to actual sentences."
Sun Jian said.
Yang Xiao, the head of the comprehensive team of the First Civil Tribunal of the Higher People's Court of Jiangsu Province, suggested that various localities carry out large-scale investigations and rectifications, severely investigate and deal with the chaos of "Li Guijiu", and standardize the order of liquor operations.
Strengthen consumer public interest litigation, give full play to the function of the punitive compensation system, severely crack down on the manufacture and sale of counterfeit products, and effectively protect the rights and interests of consumers.
Professor Zhu Lijia of the Central Party School (National School of Administration) suggested that while the law enforcement agencies maintain a high-pressure strike, they should also strengthen the public security, market supervision, health, migrant population management and other departments and village grassroots organizations to prevent and co-administer the group. The whole chain of the department strictly cracks down on the production and sale of fakes, and at the same time urges wine companies to further improve the level of technological anti-counterfeiting.
Some netizens also suggested that wine bottle engraving guarantees uniqueness, empty bottles smashed to strengthen source control, and to further strengthen the third-party joint responsibility of e-commerce platforms, and take multiple measures to strengthen the supervision of e-commerce platforms.
The public security department reminded that
consumers should not covet the low prices reported by small shops, travel merchants, and wechat merchants. They should purchase from regular channels and regulated stores, and ask for tickets and certificates, and leave proof of consumption.
Before purchasing a certain brand of liquor, you can check online or dial the customer service number of the brand to consult the corresponding anti-counterfeiting settings.
If you find that you have bought fake alcohol, you can call the complaint and report hotline to report to the relevant department.
(Reporter: Zhu Guoliang, intern Chen Danyun also contributed to this article)