A factory that made more that 40,000 fake iPhones, was caught by Chinese authorities, leading to nine arrests. The operation, which included hundreds of employees, repackaged second hand smartphone parts as brand new iPhones. The phones were valued for a total of 120m yuan, around $19 million.
Although the factory was discovered on May 14, Beijing’s public security bureau revealed it on their social media last Sunday. The operation started in January.
The fake factory was leaded by a wedded couple, on the northern outsides of the Chinese capital, according to Beijing’s officials.
This is not the first time authorities find themselves dealing with fake Apple producers. On 2011, several fraudulent stores were also closed. Five of them were located in just one city.
Because of this, China has agreed to work along with the U.S. authorities to try to decrease the quantity of fake goods that are constantly flowing between the two nations.
Additionally, the recently found store was indeed so convincing, and replicated the iPhone so well, that the large number of workers were convinced that they were employed by the U.S. tech giant.