Baltimore CBP seizes fake COVID-19 tests, drugs and masks

US customs report more seizures of counterfeit coronavirus personal protective equipment (PPE) and pharmaceutical products, this time in Baltimore.

Since March 23, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at the area ports of Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, and the ports of Harrisburg and Pittsburgh, have made 18 seizures, aided by FDA officials.

All told, the seized goods included than 1,350 unapproved and counterfeit COVID-19 test kits, nearly 400 counterfeit N95 respirator masks, almost 2,500 unapproved and potentially counterfeit medicines, and around 67,000 counterfeit ACCU-CHEK test strips.

Products were shipped from manufacturers and distributors in China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Senegal, Germany and the UK, and were destined to addresses in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Virginia, Connecticut, and Florida.

In one incident, CBP at the Port of Harrisburg seized a shipment of 1,200 Linhua Qingwen capsules, an unapproved drug being sold as a COVID-19 treatment, en route to an address in Union County, Pennsylvania.