The cost is 1 cent, and the price is 50 yuan!

◆ The cross-provincial and cross-border criminal characteristics of illegal addition of adult health care products are obvious, and some lawbreakers have dismantled all aspects of production and sales through "division of labor upgrading" to isolate risks

◆ "With the increase in the number of cases handled, the problem of disposing of the property involved in the case has become more and more prominent. Because there is no professional storage equipment, once the raw materials or products have blisters, leakage and other problems, it may cause secondary hazards. ”

"Lookout" Newsweek reporter Hu Jinwu Yao Ziyun

A spoonful of the illegally added substance sildenafil industrial raw materials, a few spoons of flour, without sanitary disinfection and dosage standards, stirred in a simple mixer and then packaged, a "aphrodisiac" with a cost of 0.1 yuan was processed. After three or four rounds of changing hands, when it reached the hands of buyers, the price of this "aphrodisiac" was as high as 50 yuan per pill, and the intermediate sales gradually made huge profits.

Health foods that add various illegally added substances and achieve "obvious curative effects" such as aphrodisiac, weight loss, and blood pressure lowering in a short period of time have a strong confusion and attraction to buyers, but after taking them, they will bring serious health risks to people's bodies.

The Continental Food Safety Law prohibits the addition of chemical substances other than food additives and other substances that may endanger human health. However, driven by huge profits, some criminals illegally add substances to adult health foods, and their criminal methods continue to escalate, threatening the safety of people's lives and property. In 2022, local market supervision departments investigated and dealt with a total of 6,038 cases of illegal addition to food, fined 75.4 million yuan, and transferred 1,689 cases to public security organs.

The case-handling personnel briefed reporters that most of the cases of illegal addition of adult health care products are produced and sold in the form of trans-provincial and cross-border methods, with a fine division of labor and layers of isolation of risks; some lawbreakers use technical means to change the structure of chemical molecules in order to "escape" from the list of illegally added substances in the country; in terms of transaction methods, they mostly use online sales, logistics delivery and collection on behalf of others to achieve "non-face-to-face" covert transactions, and innovative means are needed to intensify the crackdown.

Cao Yitu / This magazine

The modus operandi continues to escalate

In 2020, Wei purchased "three nos" weight loss capsules containing the illegally added substance sibutramine from online channels, and experienced harmful side effects such as insomnia, dry mouth, loss of appetite, and constipation after consumption. Even so, Wei still purchased 4,327 capsules, divided them in kraft paper bags, and sold them to others at a higher price at a nail salon in Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province, where he operated.

Recently, after the People's Procuratorate of Nanchang High-tech Zone filed a public prosecution, Wei was sentenced to one year in prison and fined by the court for the crime of selling toxic and harmful food, and all illegal gains were confiscated.

It is understood that the Jiangxi public security organs launched a special operation to crack down on the illegal addition of adult health food in July 2022. During the six-month period of the special operation, 242 cases involving the illegal addition of health food were filed, and 219 cases were solved, an increase of nearly 300% compared with the previous month.

The case-handling personnel revealed that obtaining personal information through illegal means and accurately "tricking" the elderly group is a common trick of some lawbreakers.

In May this year, an elderly man in Wanzai County, Yichun City, received a strange phone call. The other party said that he learned that the old man had high blood sugar, and in the name of engaging in activities, he sent a box of "ancestral secret recipe" special blood sugar lowering health products for free. After the old man took it, he felt that the effect was surprisingly good, but he also questioned "why does it lower blood sugar so quickly"?

"In this box of health products, we have detected illegally added glibenclamide and metformin hydrochloride, which may cause nausea, vomiting, and even poisoning in patients. Zheng Guofang, a police officer handling the case of the Wanzai County Public Security Bureau, said that some criminals obtained information on the condition of the elderly by illegal means, and then accurately deceived them through telephone contact.

Driven by huge profits, the modus operandi of some criminals has been escalating. For example, changing the molecular structure of illegally added substances through technical means in an attempt to "fish in troubled waters".

Recently, the public security bureau in Jiangxi Province has received reports from residents that they bought Tiege ginseng candy and deer whip tablet candy in a sex store, and after taking it, they had adverse reactions such as fever, headache, and poor breathing.

After testing by the public security department, the two health foods were positive for nafil ingredients, but the toxic and harmful substances in the list of illegally added substances issued by the state could not be detected. Under the guidance of experts, the public security department conducted further testing of the two health foods, and the results showed that propoxyphenylvardenafil was a derivative of the illegally added substance vardenafil. These two ingredients have different names, but they are the same as the harm and toxicity.

"Some criminals use technical means to change the chemical molecular structure of illegally added substances, and attach an identification report to the product description that there is no illegal addition of substances prohibited by the state, just to play the edge ball and 'fish in troubled waters'. Zhou Wenwei, captain of the Food Crime Investigation Brigade of the Forest Public Security Bureau of the Jiangxi Provincial Public Security Department, said that in order to evade the crackdown, some criminals will replace the new packaging and product name every time they produce a batch of products, and use this to "fool" buyers to experience new products.

The case-handling personnel told reporters that the cross-provincial and cross-border criminal characteristics of the illegal addition of adult health care products are obvious, and some criminals have dismantled all aspects of production and sales through "division of labor upgrading" to isolate risks.

Leng Jingtao, director of the Forest Branch of the Xiushui County Public Security Bureau in Jiujiang City, said that in a case seized locally, the raw materials of sildenafil, which was illegally added, were imported from foreign countries by a Chongqing company through formal channels, capsules were produced in Henan dens, tablets were produced in Anhui dens, and packaging and printing came from Guangdong dens. These materials were finally assembled in Changsha and then sold to 26 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities and 118 prefecture-level cities across the country.

In another case recently cracked by the Jiangxi public security organs, more than 50,000 weight loss tablets and capsules containing the illegally added substance ephedrine were seized, and the sales scope involved more than 20 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities in China and many overseas regions. Ephedrine, an illegally added substance in these tablets and capsules, is produced abroad.

"Not only do raw materials or finished products come from abroad, but some criminals also develop their own communication software and use foreign mobile payment software to 'launder money'. All these have greatly increased the difficulty of tracing the origin. Zhou Wenwei said.

The fight against crime faces multiple obstacles

Some case-handling personnel told reporters that at present, efforts have been made to investigate and deal with cases of illegal addition of adult health food, facing multiple obstacles such as information barriers on e-commerce platforms, hidden promoters of logistics channels, and difficulties in disposing of the items involved.

In July this year, the public security of a certain place in Jiangxi went to Hunan to destroy two dens, and seized more than 100,000 boxes of health food containing illegally added substances on the spot, involving hundreds of millions of yuan. According to the police handling the case, in this case, the criminals opened more than 500 stores on the e-commerce platform, and as long as they search for keywords such as the name of the health food on the Internet, there will be an overwhelming amount of business information, making consumers mistakenly believe that it is a reliable big brand health food.

After grasping the information, the police handling the case went to the platform headquarters to collect evidence, but encountered twists and turns: first reported to the network security department where the platform was located, and then the network security department connected with the platform company to obtain relevant information. Due to the large number of stores involved, the platform was initially reluctant to provide relevant information. "After repeated communication and coordination, it took two months to collect evidence," said the police handling the case, "and every second counts in the investigation process." The time for evidence collection is too long, and once the news leaks during the period, the previous efforts will be in vain."

With the continuous improvement of the supervision of the express delivery industry, some criminals have targeted the logistics industry, which is dominated by sending large items. According to the case-handling personnel, individual logistics companies have become hidden promoters of such crimes out of consideration of their own interests.

"Every time I send goods to the downline, I go through logistics. The first time I went to the logistics company, the staff went through the process and took a look. After getting acquainted with me, he never checked it again, and helped me collect the payment for the goods. However, a fee of 7/1000 of the transaction amount will be charged. Zhong Moumou, the person involved in the case, said.

Xu Daoming, deputy captain of the Second Brigade of the Mobile Detachment of the Jiujiang Public Security Bureau, said that in order to reduce the traces, criminals often fill in false sender and recipient names, phone numbers and other information, and pick up the goods directly through the pickup code.

Due to the particularity of the crime, after the case is solved, it will face the embarrassment of how to dispose of the items involved.

In a residential community in Xiushui County, Jiujiang City, the investigators opened the roller shutters of three garages, which were stacked with the materials involved in a case seized in June 2022, including 1 ton of sildenafil raw materials, 500,000 "three no" aphrodisiac health products, and 300,000 packaging boxes.

"To transport these items involved in the case from Foshan, Guangdong to Jiangxi for water repair, it cost nearly 10,000 yuan for loading and unloading transportation, and 3,000 yuan for warehouse leasing every month. Lu Weijun, director of the Xigang Police Station of the Xiushui County Public Security Bureau, who participated in the case, told reporters.

"With the increase in the number of cases handled, the problem of disposing of the property involved in the case is becoming more and more prominent. Because there is no professional storage equipment, once the raw materials or products have blisters, leakage and other problems, it may cause secondary hazards. Leng Jingtao said.

Collaborative co-governance promotes both symptoms and root causes

On October 19 this year, the State Administration for Market Regulation issued the "Guidelines for Special Food Safety Compliance for Online Sales", which requires further regulation of the sales of special foods by third-party platforms for online food transactions and online food operators, so as to ensure the safety of special foods sold online. Special foods, i.e. health foods for adults.

At present, some localities have achieved phased results in cracking down on such crimes. However, in order to promote source management and achieve both symptomatic and root causes, it is necessary for all departments to coordinate and co-govern.

According to the Forestry Public Security Bureau of the Jiangxi Provincial Public Security Department, which is responsible for cracking down on food, drug, environmental and resource crimes, the number of cases of illegal addition of adult health food has dropped significantly after last year's special crackdown. In the first nine months of this year, a total of 57 cases were filed in Jiangxi Province, and 52 cases were solved, and the number of cases filed decreased significantly.

Grassroots case-handling personnel suggested that it is necessary to explore the use of new technologies and means to improve the efficiency of case investigation and handling, and also to strengthen supervision at the source and form a joint force to crack down.

For example, in Yingtan, Jiangxi Province, the local public security organs have used big data analysis and other technical means to achieve "precise strikes" against criminals who have violated the law and committed crimes across time, regions and cases;

Zhou Qiusheng, political commissar of the Wanzai County Public Security Bureau, suggested that the relevant competent departments should strengthen industry supervision, urge e-commerce companies to assume social responsibility, plug the loopholes in the supervision of logistics platforms, and prevent the leakage of citizen information, especially patient information.

In this regard, Jiangxi Province is actively promoting collaborative governance, and the public security organs are based on the duty to combat crime, while increasing efforts to cooperate with relevant departments to carry out special food rectification actions, improve the working mechanism, plug regulatory loopholes, and promote food safety supervision from "post-investigation and punishment" to "pre-prevention".

"Where items involved in the case should be destroyed, they may be destroyed on the spot, and those with economic value may be auctioned. In view of the problem of disposing of the items involved in the case, Gong Zhejiang, director of the Xiushui County Public Security Bureau, suggested that the relevant departments should improve the disposal opinions and reduce the pressure on grassroots storage and expenses.

Illegally added substances are not food additives, and their ingredients and dosages have not been scientifically verified, which can easily cause harm to human health. "While strengthening supervision and intensifying crackdowns, it is also necessary to let the public understand the fundamental difference between illegally added substances and standardized use of food additives through extensive publicity, and improve their ability to identify. Du Juan, an associate professor at Jiangxi Agricultural University, said.

"Criminals often claim that health food can solve various health problems and lure consumers to buy it. In fact, health food is only suitable for specific groups of people to regulate body functions, not for the purpose of treating diseases. Yu Qiang, deputy dean of the School of Food Science and Technology of Nanchang University, said that when purchasing health products, consumers should pay attention to the content of health food labels and product manuals, choose legal and compliant products, and do not believe false and exaggerated information.

Source: Lookout