8 F1 Grand Prix ticket scalpers busted hawking fakes
Eight ticket scalpers were caught on Saturday selling fake tickets for the F1 Chinese Grand Prix over the weekend, police said on Sunday.
They will be detained for five to 10 days due to "disturbing public order," police confirmed.
The first two of the eight were caught at 9:30am near the main ticket entrance.
Plainclothes officers spotted them approaching people and selling three tickets for 3,000 yuan (US$450), almost double the price of authentic tickets.
Police immediately approached the two and apprehended them.
The other six scalpers were caught outside the Metro station at the circuit and ticket entrances. They usually strike a verbal deal with an interested customer and then take the person somewhere else to purchase the tickets, police said.
Those who bought tickets from the scalpers realized the tickets were fake only at the entrance.
By 2pm on Saturday, over 40,000 people had entered the circuit for the 1,000th GP in F1's history.
