At least 13 held across 10 Chinese provinces in fake Red Bull busts

Chinese authorities are continuing their year-long crackdown on fake food products by targeting producers of counterfeit Red Bull cans.

Police have detained 13 people across 10 provinces in China, China News Service said on Tuesday evening, in an effort to rein in the production and sale of large quantities of counterfeit versions of the popular energy drink.

They confiscated 3,820 boxes of cans, ingredients and packaging materials in eight locations over the last month in what appears to be nation-wide distribution network, police said.

Producing fake Red bull can be highly lucrative. Criminals involved in these operations made a 3.7 yuan profit on each fake can sold. Each one of their 12 illegal production lines was turning out 2,400 cans a day. Police have seized 25 million yuan worth of assets as part of their crackdown on these illegal products, the news wire report said.