"Trusted as Authentic," 4.5 Billion Won Worth Sold

A broker has been caught after smuggling large quantities of counterfeit Chinese cosmetics and health functional foods into South Korea and selling them as authentic products on online open markets.

According to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS), an individual identified as Mr. A conspired with a manufacturer in Shenzhen, China, to sell 4.5 billion won worth of 61 types of counterfeit goods, including cosmetics and health functional foods, from October 2024 to November of last year.

It was found that 87 types of illegal fake products were stored in a logistics warehouse operated by Mr. A located in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province.

The market value of these products totaled 1.3 billion won.

The MFDS explained that the products stored in the warehouse differed from authentic items in terms of packaging materials, manual contents, container shapes, and sizes.

The number of fake products smuggled into the country by Mr. A reached 100,984.

In addition to cosmetics and health functional foods, the illegally smuggled items by Mr. A varied widely, including toothpaste, water purifier filters, shoes, and golf bags.


The cosmetics were sold disguised as 28 types of well-known brands such as Celladix, Kahi, Beauty of Joseon, Estee Lauder, and Lancome, while the counterfeit health functional foods were sold under brands like Korea Eundan and Denps.

The MFDS explained that inspections of the cosmetics and health functional foods seized from Mr. A's warehouse revealed that functional ingredients and marker substances were not detected at all.

(Photo: Provided by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.