Sichuan Police Acknowledge Missing Moutai Bottles After Three-Year Custody Dispute

Chinese police in Sichuan's Yibin city have issued a statement regarding a controversy over 159 bottles of Moutai liquor seized during a cross-provincial operation in 2023. On May 26, 2023, officers from Zhuang County Public Security Bureau traveled to Shenyang, Liaoning Province and searched the business premises of liquor merchant He Moumou, seizing the bottles as part of an investigation into alleged counterfeit trademark sales. Official testing found 157 of the bottles had packaging inconsistent with the manufacturer's authentic products, while two bottles could not be tested due to damaged anti-counterfeiting labels. Six bottles were retained as evidence samples, with the remaining 153 packaged and transported back to Zhuang County.

The case was formally registered as a trademark counterfeiting investigation on August 7, 2023, and has since been referred to prosecutors and taken to trial. When He and his wife, accompanied by their lawyer, inspected the seized bottles on May 20, 2026, they discovered multiple bottles missing or opened, with some reduced to empty containers. In response to public concern, Yibin Municipal Public Security Bureau launched a special investigation task force on June 18, 2026, to review the handling of the case.

The police statement confirmed that upon inspection, the bottles remained in their original confiscation packaging condition. The statement acknowledged issues with "non-standard terminology" in case documentation and committed to corrective measures, including potential disciplinary action against officers if violations are found. The case has undergone eight court hearings and remains under judicial review. During May 21 court proceedings this year, the judge rejected a defense request to conduct authenticity testing on the bottles, stating they were unrelated to the core charges against the defendant.

The incident has raised questions about police custody standards and the handling of high-value seized assets. The total value of the seized bottles reportedly exceeded 1.2 million yuan (approximately 22,000 Singapore dollars). Additionally, the merchant and relevant enterprises reached a settlement regarding compensation liability during the investigation, though the compensation funds were not transferred to police department accounts.