Police seize 3,500 phony watches

Songjiang district police have seized more than 3,500 phony luxury watches in a crackdown on counterfeit goods, Shanghai police said Thursday.

Each counterfeit watch, which costs several dozen yuan to purchase, can fetch about 300 yuan ($48.10) on the street, according to a press release from the Songjiang District Public Security Bureau.

Still, the street price only amounts to about 1 percent of what retailers charge for a genuine watch.

The watches were all sourced from coastal areas in China.

Following a 20-day investigation, police arrested two suspects who ran a business selling counterfeit watches in commercial areas in Songjiang New Town, Hongkou district and Putuo district.

"They risk selling fake watches because there are always people willing to buy," said Li Ming, a press officer with the Songjiang District Public Security Bureau.

Li said buyers usually know the watches are fakes, even though sellers routinely claim they are genuine and explain the low price by saying they were smuggled into the country.

Police said that one of the suspects, surnamed Li, tried to attract customers by showing a phony certificate of authenticity to passersby.