US Customs Seize $120,000 Worth of Illegal Disinfectant Wipes

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers in the Port of Mobile in Alabama have intercepted US$120,000 of illegal disinfectant wipes, according to AL.com.

The federal agency has been working since the pandemic began in late February to identify and seize counterfeit, unapproved, or otherwise substandard COVID-19-related products including mislabeled or unregistered personal protection equipment (PPE) and cleaning supplies. Many of the items seized have been prohibited by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

CBP has seized 10 million counterfeit face masks, 3,000 EPA-prohibited anti-virus lanyards, 20,000 FDA-prohibited chloroquine tablets in 140 incidents, and 4,000 antibiotics tablets, such as azithromycin, over the last four months during hundreds of inspections at the port, AL.com reports.

CBP has also confiscated more than 120,000 FDA-prohibited COVID-19 test kits that were either prohibited for not meeting regulatory or legal requirements or were potentially unlicensed, according to CBP.