U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Cincinnati says its officers recently seized a shipment of 10,080 counterfeit surgical masks imported from China.
Customs said in a news release today that officers working shortly before Christmas saw the shipment purporting to contain 3M masks that protect against communicable respiratory diseases did not come with required product quality-control certification.
Further, Customs said, the masks were advertised as having been made in the United States, even though they came from a consumer electronics company in Shenzhen, China.
Customs said agency experts subsequently determined the masks were counterfeit.
“Our officers are not only protecting the integrity of the American economy through trademark enforcement, they are preventing potentially dangerous and faulty masks from being distributed to our frontline medical personnel,” Cincinnati Port Director Richard Gillespie said in the news release.
“This underscores how counterfeiters completely disregard human lives while padding their bank accounts.”
Customs said the masks from China were headed to a sales company in Union City, California, and would have had a Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price of $65,520 had they been genuine.
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