BEIJING - Chinese authorities have begun an investigation into possible dereliction of duty involving law enforcement and safety supervisors amid a scandal revolving around contaminated medicine capsules.

The Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) has sent investigators to northern Hebei province and eastern Zhejiang province, where they will join local investigation efforts to find out if government employees ignored their responsibilities and allowed the contamination to occur, Xinhua was told Wednesday.

In a recent circular, the SPP asked local procurators to make greater efforts to uncover any illegal dereliction of duty in relation to the incident, in which industrial gelatin containing high amounts of chromium, a known carcinogen, was used to produce medicine capsules.

The Ministry of Public Security said Sunday that it has confiscated 77 million capsules made from toxic industrial gelatin, arrested nine criminal suspects, detained 54 others and shut down 8 capsule manufacturing lines in Hebei, Zhejiang and Jiangxi provinces.