Twenty people have been arrested in China for selling an addictive cough syrup in the country's northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang, police said.
More than 6,700 bottles of a compound containing codeine phosphate, a potentially addictive prescription drug, have been seized, Shenyang police said.
The syrup is manufactured in Shenyang.
Preliminary investigation showed that an employee from a retailer in north China's Hebei Province sold the cough syrup for profit by falsifying orders from clients, most of which are rural medical institutions, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Codeine, which is extracted from opium or synthesised from morphine, can lead to drug addiction.
Using codeine-based drugs in excessive amounts can also cause problems like stomach ulcers and liver damage.
Substances containing codeine are strictly controlled by China.
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