U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized almost 13 million counterfeit face masks in the 12 months ending Sept. 30, according to a report cited by The Wall Street Journal.
The report, released Feb. 4 by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said customs agents seized many masks falsely labeled as being made by 3M or other major brands. Twenty-one boxes of masks labeled as 3M Mask model 1860 were seized in December in Cincinnati, the Journal reported.
"What we are seeing is, no big surprise, a lot of counterfeits rolling through those supply chains," Brenda Smith, executive assistant commissioner for the Office of Trade at U.S. Customs and Border Protection told the Journal.
More than half the supplies seized in the 12 months came from China, the report stated.
Customs agents also confiscated 177,000 test kits prohibited by the FDA and 38,000 chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine tablets prohibited by the FDA, the Journal reported.
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