Almost 2,000 individuals have been arrested by authorities in China admist a crackdown on the nationwide operation of creating and distributing counterfeit pharmaceutical drugs. The investigations and operations started on the 25th of July with the participation of over 18,000 police officers in the entire country.

In all, the products found and seized in multiple locations add up to nearly 182 million U.S. dollars or 1.16 billion yuan.

Worryingly, the millions of pills and drugs were manufactured to look like the more well known brands that are crucial in treating serious medical problems like diabetes. Besides this, authorities also found that these fake products are being advertised everywhere: newspapers, magazines, the Internet, television and so on.

The proliferation of these drugs obviously stretch beyond the domestic market of China and into other countries' pharmaceutical markets which presents a significant problem and danger to those who consume the fake and deadly medicine.

So far, authorities have analyzed some of the drugs discovering that there are illegal substances and hallucinogens thrown into the mix.

The Chinese government has acknowledged that the underworld distribution of these fake drugs is a difficult conundrum to tackle and that it will get even more difficult as criminals continue to come up with new schemes and "becoming craftier and better able to deceive."

Authorities have been increasingly getting tougher on gangs and such operations going so far as to execute China's previous Director of the State Food and Drug Administration who took bribes right before pushing to approve a fake drug.

(Cover Photo: In this March 15, 2012 file photo, a Chinese official with the Food and Drug Administration covers his nose from the unpleasant smell from over 50 tons of confiscated fake medicine to be destroyed during a campaign to mark World Consumer Rights Day in Beijing. (AP Photo/File))