On Thursday, the United States' Customs and Border Protection agency announced that it confiscated thousands of counterfeit Condoms. In fact, the agency confiscated over 40,000 over a five-day period. The seizure occurred in Puerto Rico and other US federal agencies were involved in the seizure.
The CBP released a statement, saying the FDA was involved with the seizure. The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations aided, too. The agency said the fake condoms were sent from China to Puerto Rico.
Fake products damage economic security
Vernon Foret, the CBP's acting director of field operations in Puerto Rico, said the agency and its partners work to protect consumers from products that can harm consumers' health and safety. He was referring to imported products. Foret added that fake and pirated products pose a threat to the country's economic security and it undermines businesses that produce safe, quality products.
The agency issued a warning about fake condoms. It said fake condoms, as well as counterfeit beauty products and cosmetics, are not subjected to strenuous quality control, unlike legitimate brands. Fake condoms and other products may contain harmful substances that can cause serious health problems.
Fake condoms may fail
A good example of how fake condoms can pose a risk is not guarding against pregnancy. The agency's statement added that counterfeit condoms may not guard against sexually transmitted diseases. When cosmetics have been seized in the past, some of it contained arsenic, lead, rat droppings, urine, mercury and cyanide.
All of those are hazardous substances.
A special agent that oversees HSI operations in Puerto Rico said trafficking fake goods is illegal. Ricardo Mayoral also said in some cases, fake products become an issue of public health. He added that this type of activity represents a triple threat because it robs citizens of jobs, generates proceeds that are often used for other criminal enterprises, and introduces dangerous products into the economy.
