A 20-member criminal gang that turned a profit by manufacturing and selling "gutter oil" has been busted in Zhejiang Province, prosecutors in Jinhua City said yesterday.

The prosecutors office has ratified the arrests after police evidence showed the gang, allegedly led by Li Weijian and his wife Xu Xiaoqing, had used kitchen waste and discarded animal fat to illegally produce and sell cooking oil since 2005. Prosecutors said the gang pocketed over 10 million yuan (US$1.6 million) from the illegal business last year alone. The gang sold the oil to wholesalers and food processing plants in Shanghai, Chongqing and Jiangsu.