BEIJING - Chinese police have busted two gangs involved in the production and sale of counterfeit medicines and health products, respectively, the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) announced Tuesday.

The counterfeit medicines, including cold remedy capsules Nifedipine Tablets, were produced in central Henan province by local unemployed villagers and sold in many other provinces.

Police apprehended 35 suspects and confiscated more than 83 million tablets as part of the operation. The case involved over 40 million yuan (6.5 million US dollars).

In another cross-regional operation, police apprehended over 40 members of a criminal ring involved in the production and sale of counterfeit health products. Over 6.5 million tablets were confiscated.

The criminal ring targeted health-conscious senior citizens and used seminars and fake experiments to convince them of the so-called "miraculous effects" of their products.

The case involved a total of 107 million yuan, and a Xiamen-based biotechnology company was the producer, the MPS said.