U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers have seized counterfeit coronavirus test kits at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, the agency announced Thursday.
According to a press release, officers assigned to the airport intercepted packages containing prohibited medical drug kits, which arrived at the airport from the United Kingdom.
Some of the “test kits” were marked as coronavirus tests, while others were labeled for meningitis, IVF, MRSA, salmonella and other diseases, according to the press release.
“CBP personnel have done a phenomenal job with intercepting these items,” Chief Supervisory Officer Lesley Lukens said in a statement. “Each seizure provides additional insight into past, present and future smuggling trends to assist CBP with intercepting additional parcels containing similar items that are harmful to our personal health and national security.”
CBP is advising all U.S. residents that authorized testing for the coronavirus is conducted only in verified state and local public health laboratories across the country. The Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act prohibits the introduction or delivery for introduction into interstate commerce of any food, drug, device, tobacco product or cosmetic that is adulterated or misbranded, according to the agency.
