Chinese authorities are on the lookout for 300 people suspected of illegally selling poor quality drugs across China, Xinhua reported. 

State media said that 300 people were part of a vaccine trading ring that is estimated to be worth 570 million Yuan ($88 million).

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The scandal could be one of the biggest vaccine scandals in China's history, inside sources revealed.

The suspects sold highly compromised vaccines to hospitals and disease control centers in at least 24 provinces and municipalities across the mainland. The vaccines' inferior quality were reportedly due to the fact that they were not adequately refrigerated nor transported in good conditions.

These poor quality vaccines had the potential to cause severe disability to patients and could even lead to death. 

Xinhua's report further claimed that although the scandal came to public notice only on Friday, Chinese police had first discovered the operation in April 2015.

The illegal operation's discovery led to at least 20 raids across the country. A doctor duo of a mother and daughter, who were believed to be the kingpins of the vaccine trade ring, were arrested. 

The mother and daughter were identified only with their last name, Pang. The daughter is reportedly a medical student in eastern China's Shandong Province.

According to ThePaper.com, the online news portal that first broke the story, the older pang, 47, was a doctor at a public hospital. In 2009, she was sentenced to three years of imprisonment after she was found guilty of illegally selling vaccines worth ¥5 million ($763,358).              

The State Public Security Bureau said that the mother-daughter duo have been profiting from illegal sale of vaccines since 2010.

They allegedly purchased 25 types of vaccines from more than 100 pharmaceutical salesmen - licensed and unlicensed. These vaccines were then sold to illegal agents at inflated prices.              

Ever since the scandal became public on Friday, the Chinese public have been posting angry comments on social media. They are furious why the operations started only last year when police already have evidence years earlier. Some are also asking how Pang was able to carry out the illegal operation after being convicted in 2009. 

Tagsvaccine scandal, Scandals in China, china, vaccines