Officials arrested 17 people on suspicion of making the love gloves and confiscated more than 50,000 boxes, which were produced primarily in the Henan and Hubei provinces. The condoms were distributed in hotels, supermarkets and vending machines across the country and packaged as Durex or Okamoto. Local police chief Zheng Xidan told Chinese media: “We found the workshops where the suspects made those condoms in rural areas in Henan and Hebei provinces.
Chinese condom maker Chen He said none of the fake rubbers had been tested for bacteria, fungi, or holes and claimed the gang’s scam posed a public health risk.
He explained: “Some of those cheap condoms are even recycled from used ones.
“In those illegal workshops, which are often very dirty, it’s unlikely they have the right methods to control the bacteria and fungi level or test for holes.
“The machines are quite expensive and I don’t think they would bother to buy them.”
According to Singapore’s Today Online, condoms are one of the most falsified goods throughout China.
In February, police in Yunchen seized 2 million fake Durex and Okamoto condoms, which were also feared to pose a health risk.
And last March, 40,000 fake condoms imported from China were confiscated over a period of five days in the US, which led the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to issue an alert to warn people of the knock-offs and the safety risks.
According to local media, there have been more than 10 similar cases since 2014 and those found guilty have been sentenced to up to four years in prison.