Four suspects were detained for selling drinking water in suburban Shanghai purporting to have been bottled by well-known brands, police said.
The water was actually running water filtered with unprofessional equipment. Tests showed that the quality of the water was far below industry standards, police added.
The bottles were sold to residents and companies in Songjiang District from last month. In that time the gang had made a profit of about 200,000 yuan ($30,000).
Police added that none of the duped customers had reported any health problems. The water was bottled in a garage in Fangsong sub-district.
In a raid on the garage, police discovered about 100 bottles of falsely branded drinking water and plastic lids for the bottles — bearing the trademarks of Nongfu Spring, Waterman, Nestle, Qiandaohu and Wahaha.
