During the Spring Festival, the demand for high-end liquor such as Maotai increased, and even "Feitian Maotai" was out of stock, while counterfeit Moutai took advantage of it. According to media reports, in January 2018, Mr. Wang of Xi ‘an spent 90,000 yuan to buy 10 boxes of "Feitian Maotai" wine, which was tested by counterfeiters in the Maotai Distillery market. All of them were fake wines. Afterwards, the tobacco hotels involved were seized.
Where do these fake maotai come from?
The Paper reporter visited renhuai city, the birthplace of Moutai, which is known as "the wine capital of China".
The Paper visited and found that from Renhuai downtown to Maotai Town, a complete industrial chain from counterfeiting to packaging was formed. A large number of "Maotai" packages suspected of infringement or counterfeiting are sold in an open and semi-open way. Here, a bottle of Feitian Maotai, with a market price of about 1,800 yuan, can be bought if it is not counterfeit in 200 yuan.
During the visit, due to the hot business during the Spring Festival, some fake merchants said that many fake packages were "sold out". Some vendors know that selling fake goods is illegal, but driven by interests, many people still take risks.
On February 26th, The Paper reported the relevant situation to Maotai Branch of Guizhou Provincial Administration for Industry and Commerce, which indicated that it had referred the situation to relevant departments for handling. The staff of Guizhou Administration for Industry and Commerce then called The Paper and said that the area involved was a complicated place, which had always been the focus of their attention, and they would immediately investigate and deal with it.
The fake Moutai wine purchased by the reporter was covered with boxes of other brands of wine. The pictures in this article are all the pictures of The Paper reporter Zhuang An.
"If you don’t meet in business, you won’t worry about selling this wine."
"Do you want to imitate maotai liquor? I have friends who don’t do this, help you ask. " At the beginning of February, on the expressway from Zunyi to Renhuai, the driver started his business when he learned that a reporter from The Paper was looking for a fake Maotai.
In July 2004, renhuai city was recognized as "China Wine Capital". As of September 2017, the number of liquor enterprises in this city reached 2,811. According to the city’s total population of 640 thousand, there is a winery for an average of 200 people. Liquor-making industry is undoubtedly the pillar industry of the local area.
Thousands of wineries are scattered in renhuai city, making it seven or eight kilometers away from the city, and you can smell a smell of wine.
Among these thousands of wine enterprises, renhuai city, a well-known wine brand, doesn’t own much. According to renhuai city government website, as of September 2017, the city has 7 well-known liquor trademarks in China and 117 famous provincial trademarks. On average, every 22 wine companies have a well-known trademark.
Among the scarce well-known trademarks, "Maotai" can impress consumers most, so businesses around "Maotai" abound.
"High imitation Maotai, these two days are expensive, 1800 yuan a box of six bottles." The wine merchants introduced by the above-mentioned drivers to The Paper reporters openly quoted the price of fake Feitian Maotai on WeChat and sent photos of fake wine.
According to the merchant, the counterfeit Feitian Maotai they sell is divided into the old models in 2013 and the new models with chips in 2016 and 2017, which are more expensive than the old models in 50 yuan. However, when the reporter proposed a face-to-face transaction in Renhuai, the other party refused, saying that "this is not to meet" and "this wine is not for sale". The other party asked to send him money through WeChat, and then the fake wine will be mailed to the designated place as required.
Transaction: trading places suddenly changed when unpacking inspection.
After many twists and turns, The Paper reporter contacted a merchant who was willing to deal face to face. At 11 o’clock at night, meet in a coffee shop in Renhuai.
"Flying Maotai, the price is 4,100 yuan for two pieces (12 bottles). If you want, you can transfer money to me on WeChat, and I will send it to you directly. " The merchant said that in order to avoid risks, all the fake Maotai they sold were packaged now, and they didn’t hoard goods, and they were all traded through WeChat. The fake seller said that they have their own winery and brand in renhuai city, and the wine filled with fake Maotai is produced in their factory, which can ensure the stable quality of the wine.
For the counterfeit Feitian Maotai packaging, the merchant said that these counterfeit packaging from wine boxes to wine labels, identification chips are all the same as genuine products. "The packaging is real. You can sell this wine at the market price." After talking about the price, The Paper and the merchant agreed to deal face to face at noon the next day.
The next day, at the appointed time and place, the fake merchant came by a local yellow taxi. However, when The Paper reporter and the merchant opened the box for inspection, the merchant suddenly said that he wanted to change trading places. Subsequently, a black JEEP Grand Cherokee "staked" the taxi and quickly left the downtown area. In the sparsely populated second trading places, The Paper reporters completed the transaction with the fake merchants.
From the packaging point of view, there is almost no difference between the fake Feitian Moutai sold by fake merchants to The Paper reporters and the genuine ones, and boxes, wine glasses, anti-counterfeiting labels and even anti-counterfeiting detectors are all available. Where did these fake packages come from? The Paper reporter then visited many places in renhuai city and Maotai Town.
Buying and selling fake Maotai is mostly a big business.
Maotai Town is only ten minutes’ drive from renhuai city, and the headquarters of Maotai Group is located at the southern end of the town. Here, the streets on both sides of Chishui River are full of shops selling loose wine and brand wine. Advertising boxes for "moutai prince Wine" and "Maotai Welcome Wine" can be seen everywhere.
"This is Moutai, and I definitely didn’t lie to you." Near the Rainbow Bridge in Maotai Town, a merchant selling loose liquor pointed to a catty of 400 yuan maotai-flavor liquor he sold and told the The Paper reporter. He said that this is Feitian Moutai, but it has no packaging.
Talking about the fake "Maotai" liquor business, the merchant bluntly said that because the liquor produced in this area, like Moutai, is a maotai-flavor liquor fermented with sorghum, as long as the vintage of the wine is close, people who don’t drink Maotai often can’t taste the difference at all.
In addition, buying and selling fake Moutai in Maotai Town is a big business. Many businesses are reluctant to do small business. "You want it in large quantities, and it is enough for him to do it once."
The merchant settled accounts with the The Paper reporter. Now, the packaging price of a set of fake Feitian Moutai is around 80 yuan. For filling the fake Feitian Maotai, the local wine of one or two hundred yuan is enough to confuse the real with the fake. Plus packaging and transportation, the average cost per bottle of fake Feitian Maotai is about 200 yuan. The genuine Maotai is priced at 1500 yuan. Selling dozens or hundreds of fake wines at a time, the winery can stop doing business for half a year. "This (fake wine business) is well played. It is very simple to earn hundreds of thousands and millions a year."
The outer packaging of various Moutai wines displayed in a shop on Xingsheng Road.
As for where to sell fake Feitian Maotai packaging, the merchant said that he could go directly to renhuai city No.3 District and buy it in the wholesale market of liquor packaging along Xingsheng Road. "Over there ‘ Feitian ’ (Maotai) There are many packages, and three streets are everywhere. "
Business is booming during the Spring Festival, and fake wine packaging is "sold out of stock"
There are dozens of shops selling wine packaging on both sides of Xingsheng Road in renhuai city, from wine boxes, wine labels, wine glasses to bottle caps, all of which are available here. Almost every packaging shop has packages printed with the words "Liquor for Maotai" and "Liquor for Maotai" on the exhibition cabinets. Many of the "MOUTAI for Internal Use" liquor packages are printed with all the logos and names of Kweichow Moutai Group such as "Kweichow Moutai Co., Ltd." and "Moutai".
For this kind of "Moutai for internal supply" liquor packaging, Xingsheng Road merchants have a unified name — — "currency" “‘ Currency ’ It’ s okay to sell here, and the industrial and commercial discovery is confiscated at most. " A packaging shop owner said that packaging such as "Moutai for wine" is basically open for sale. Including wine boxes, wine labels, anti-counterfeiting labels and receipts, the price of one piece (6 sets of packages) is 20 to 30 yuan.
The Paper reporter bought a set of "MOUTAI wine for internal use" package with the logo of "Moutai" printed on it from a merchant in Xingsheng Road, and scanned the attached QR code anti-counterfeiting logo through the mobile phone. As a result, a webpage popped up, showing that the price of this "Moutai wine for internal use" was 688 yuan.
Besides "currency", the merchant also sells counterfeit packages such as "moutai prince wine" and "Feitian Maotai" which are almost the same as the genuine products. In terms of price, counterfeit packaging is several times or even ten times more expensive than "currency". For example, a package of "moutai prince wine" costs 158 yuan (6 sets), while a package of "Feitian Maotai" costs 158 yuan (6 sets) in 400 yuan.
For the sale of counterfeit Maotai packaging, the merchant said that he knew it was illegal. The merchant said that due to the hot Spring Festival trading, many counterfeit Maotai packages were "sold out of stock" and they needed to transfer goods from outside Area 3. Another packaging shop nearby also said that some counterfeit packages were out of stock and had to be purchased from other places if necessary.
Only half a bucket of hot water is used for bottle disinfection.
With the fake "Feitian Maotai" packaging, it is necessary to assemble the fake packaging accessories into finished products. In the area of Xingsheng Road, packaging "fake Maotai" is also a business. The price of one (6 sets) fake Maotai is 100 yuan.
After making an agreement with a merchant on Xingsheng Road to buy two counterfeit "Feitian Maotai" wines, the The Paper reporter saw these counterfeit Maotai packers and packers the next day. The packaging location is in the basement of the shop selling fake packaging.
These counterfeit "Feitian Maotai" packages include bottles, ribbons, wine boxes, logos, anti-counterfeiting codes, and even outer packaging carton cable ties, anti-counterfeiting chips and anti-counterfeiting detectors. Every accessory is copied according to the genuine product. There is a number "2" at the right end of genuine wine neck ribbon, and there is also a number "2" at the right end of counterfeit ribbon. The color change and anti-counterfeiting of genuine Moutai caps are also available for counterfeit Maotai.
Counterfeiters pack fake Moutai in the basement.
In the dark basement with peeling walls and a large number of counterfeit "Maotai" packages piled up. The packer only brought half a bucket of hot water to clean the bottle, and then began to pack the fake Moutai by hand.
First, he rinsed the white porcelain bottle with fake Moutai in half a bucket of hot water, then poured the bulk liquor into the bottle with a funnel and a measuring spoon with a weight of just one catty, pressed the first bottle cap by hand, and sealed the link between the plastic bottle cap and the bottle with a hand-operated wine cap packer. Then use 502 universal glue to stick the anti-counterfeiting chip on the bottle cap. The anti-counterfeiting chip is divided into front and back, and the packer said that the "black spot" side must face up, otherwise the information cannot be scanned. After that, apply a layer of glue on the anti-counterfeiting chip, and then tie the wine neck ribbon on the wine cover. The method of tying the wine neck ribbon is very particular, compared with the authentic Maotai.
After the caps, ribbons and bottles were put out, the packer found a hot hair dryer to heat the caps and bottles. So that the bottle cap is completely sleeved on the bottle body. Then the Maotai trademark and anti-counterfeiting label are affixed. Finally, the packaged counterfeit Moutai is put into a wine box and put into a box of 6 bottles of Moutai, and the production label is affixed. Its paste position is also compared with the position of the genuine Maotai carton. Finally, in order to avoid suspicion, the packer also found a carton of other brands of wine that was a little bigger than the fake Maotai carton.
It took the packer less than 20 minutes to pack 2 boxes of 12 bottles of fake Maotai. The packer said that the way he packed fake Maotai was the same as that of genuine Maotai.
Merchants in Xingsheng Road said that counterfeit Maotai shipped from Renhuai would be packed in cartons of other brands of wine. In this way, express delivery will not be investigated. Even if it is unlucky to spot-check that it is a fake Maotai, as long as it is not in large quantities, the courier company will only confiscate it and will not pursue it. The Paper reporter statistics, from the purchase of loose wine, fake packaging to packaging, a bottle of fake flying Maotai as long as 183 yuan.
As for the origin of these fake Maotai packages, merchants along Xingsheng Road introduced that some of them were local products, but the anti-counterfeiting labels and stickers were imported from foreign printing plants.
The Paper reporter took the counterfeit Moutai assembled in Xingsheng Road, renhuai city, and tested it in a Maotai franchise store in Zunyi. After repeatedly watching the fake wine, the salesperson said that "it feels real". However, the fake wine failed to pass the detection of the in-store inspection machine, and the scanning results showed that no information about the fake wine was found.
The Paper bought fake Moutai and fake packaging, will be handed over to the relevant departments.
“Some people get rich, others go to jail."
A merchant in Maotai Town told The Paper that selling fake Maotai now "made a lot of money, but also got caught". This is indeed the case.
On December 16th, last year, the Ministry of Public Security deployed a two-month "Spring Thunder Action" to severely crack down and centrally rectify the persistent regional fraud. According to a report by Litchi.com in December 2017, in the "Spring Thunder Action" launched by the Ministry of Public Security, the police in Suining, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province cracked a case of maotai liquor fraud and seized more than 200 boxes of fake wine, involving several million yuan. After investigation, the suspect was a fake "Feitian Maotai" purchased from Guiyang.
Wine packaging street in Huairen City.
According to the 2017 Legal Daily, in 2016, the police in Longhui County, Hunan Province smashed a den selling counterfeit Maotai liquor in Huairen City, Guizhou Province, and seized nearly 2,000 bottles of counterfeit Maotai liquor, involving tens of millions of yuan. Dozens of people, including the Wang brothers, the leader of criminal gangs, were arrested by the police.
According to the criminal suspect Wang, the production of fake wine in Renhuai, Guizhou has formed a huge and complete industrial chain. Therefore, he found business opportunities and recruited 11 salespeople to sell fake wine to all parts of the country through online platforms and WeChat. From 2014 to 2016, it was investigated and dealt with, and the amount of fake wine sold by the gang was tens of millions of yuan.
According to a report by Chongqing Business Daily on February 11th, at the end of January, 2018, Chongqing police moved to Beijing and Chongqing, and cracked a case involving the production and sale of counterfeit well-known brands of liquor, including Maotai. Sixteen people involved in the case were arrested, and three dens for manufacturing and selling fake wine were destroyed, involving more than 10 million yuan.
