Police in east China's Anhui province have apprehended 20 people for posing as military personnel to smuggle fake cigars out of the area.
Acting on a tip, staff with the local tobacco monopoly bureau intercepted a truck which was unloading counterfeit brand cigarettes.
Later, local police raided the smugglers' base of operations, apprehending 12 people wearing army uniforms and seizing six army trucks.
The gang's leader, local farmer Ma Guoping, confessed that since 1997 he has posed as an army officer to smuggle cigars out of eastern China in rented army trucks.
(Xinhua 01/09/2001)
