HEFEI - Police have detained 27 suspects for producing and selling fake white spirits labeled as various known brands, according to the public security department of Anhui province.

Anhui police, working with counterparts in three neighboring provinces, shut down 12 storage houses in the cities of Suzhou, Fuyang and Huaibei in Anhui in mid-September, said a spokesman with the department Thursday.

The police seized more than 100,000 bottles of the fake spirits, over two million fake trademarks of a dozen brands, and more than 100,000 empty bottles, said the spokesman.

The suspects started their businesses in 2008. They processed edible alcohol they had purchased in neighboring provinces.

In China, white spirits are extremely vulnerable to counterfeiting as they are popular gifts and widely regarded as must-have drinks at banquets.

In early 2011, the Ministry of the Public Security started a nationwide campaign to crack down on counterfeiting and the sale of counterfeit white liquor.