After a lengthy investigation, authorities in China have broken up a counterfeit condom production ring, arresting dozens of people connected to the ring and seizing well over 4 million of the fake condoms, police announced on Tuesday.

As part of a joint operation, Chinese police in various provinces successfully shut down six buildings where the condoms were being manufactured, arrested 37 suspects who took part in the illegal counterfeit process and seized 4.6 million condoms worth an estimated $7.76 million, according to reports.

Police in Fujian province launched an initial investigation in February after officials took note that name brand condoms, including Durex, Contex and Jissbon were being sold at 16 cents a pop, way below typical retail value online at taobao.com, the Chinese equivalent of Amazon or eBay.

According to the International Business Times, authorities allegedly ordered a number of the suspiciously inexpensive condoms, which they confirmed were fakes and then returned them in a successful bid to obtain the seller's address.

They used this information to track down the first production site, which was found in Quanzhou, Fujian province, where two men had cooked up the counterfeit scheme in December 2012.

The men allegedly bought four production machines, mass produced generic condoms and brand-name packaging then hired a number of workers to manufacture the products via assembly line. It's reported that the workshop was churning out up to 20,000 condoms per-day.

Police discovered two more factories linked to the first one that were also manufacturing the counterfeit condoms, one in Zhengzhou, Henan province and the other in Dongyang, Zhejiang province.

In March, as part of a joint sting operation, police raided all three factories and connected workshops simultaneously, arrested the employees working there, seized the merchandise and shut down the buildings.

Although the raids took place in March, officials did not release news of the bust until Tuesday, after a thorough investigation into the underground ring was finally concluded.