Customs officers inspecting international mail and shipments arriving at U.S. ports of entry from China, the United Kingdom, and other countries have made more than 500 seizures totaling 870,000 unapproved coronavirus treatments, tests, and masks since mid-March, the Washington Examiner has learned.
As of Monday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers have prevented 11,000 unverified chloroquine tablets and 107,300 coronavirus test kits — both of which had not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration — from entering the country, according to an official. CBP, the federal agency that oversees border security at land, sea, and airports, also seized 750,000 face masks not approved for use and 2,500 lanyards, or cords to put around the neck, that claim to repel the virus that were not approved by the Environmental Protection Agency.
“Criminals and other bad actors are trying to profit from the coronavirus pandemic by introducing unauthorized, unproven, and potentially unsafe goods into the United States,” CBP Acting Commissioner Mark Morgan said in a statement. “CBP continues to target these dangerous shipments while facilitating the entry of legitimate pharmaceuticals and medical supplies that are needed to protect Americans.”
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Seizures have been made at ports across the country, primarily at airports and seaports where packages ordered or cargo shipments coming from overseas must first be cleared by customs before going on to their final destination. Federal officers who work at Chicago’s O’Hare International Mail Facility, responsible for processing 20% of all international mail coming into the United States, in late May found 28,000 capsules of Lianhua Qingwen Jiaonang in a single package from China. The capsules claimed to treat the coronavirus, but items coming from illegitimate businesses abroad lack proper government approvals and required warnings or make inaccurate claims, making them a risk to U.S. consumers.
More than 1,000 of the same capsules intended for someone in Union County, Pennsylvania, were seized in the mail during an inspection by Baltimore officers. At the Port of Vicksburg in Mississippi, officers found 2,000 “coronavirus cure” pills mailed from China. After testing them, the pills turned out to contain mostly sugar and iron.
In Rochester, New York, officers looking at foreign mail have discovered 600 illegitimate coronavirus tests since March. Two weeks ago, officers working at a border crossing between El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, stopped a man with 1,000 counterfeit tests packed inside a suitcase.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, another agency within the Department of Homeland Security, launched Operation Stolen Promise earlier this spring to investigate international crimes involving personal protective equipment and pharmaceuticals amid the coronavirus pandemic. As of late May, ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations arm had made 18 criminal arrests, taken down nearly 37,000 illegitimate websites, and seized $4 million in profits from illegal sales of these items.
