Fake iPhones are displayed at a mobile phone stall in Shanghai August 11, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

SHANGHAI - Police in Shanghai are fighting to keep counterfeit iPhones off the streets just days before the upcoming release of the iPhone 5, according to local authorities.

Five suspects have been apprehended for using recycled accessories to manufacture fake iPhones, police said Wednesday. The suspects sorted through e-waste transported from South China's Guangdong province, scavenged genuine components from discarded iPhones and combined them with the fake components before selling them.

Over 200 fake iPhones and 5,000 accessories at a value of five million yuan ($781,630) were confiscated from a rented apartment in downtown Shanghai during the July busts, police said.

Police said the counterfeit iPhones had nearly the same appearance and featured the same functions as genuine iPhones.

The crackdown follows a citywide campaign to eliminate counterfeit products amid a string of scandals involving fake iPhones and copycat Apple stores in other cities.