CBP inspectors follow the Aqua Dots

CBP inspectors follow the Aqua Dots U.S. Customs and Border Protection inspectors in Seattle intercepted several large shipments of toy Aqua Dots in the past three weeks.
   Aqua Dots is the popular toy that the Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled a couple months ago because versions made in China contained a chemical that metabolizes into the equivalent of the date rape drug. The chemical, butanediol, converts to gamma hydroxybutyrate, which can cause agitation, respiratory depression, vomiting, unconsciousness, coma and death.
   Several children in the United States and other countries became seriously ill after ingesting the product, which garnered a lot of attention in the media as an example of gaps in the import safety system.
   In early November, the North American distributor asked its customers to stop the sale of Aqua Dots and joined in an immediate recall of all Aqua Dot toys imported since April 2007. However, some shipments were already in route to the United States or in foreign trade zones.
   CBP officers targeted the shipments for examination prior to their arrival in Seattle aboard the container ships Wan He and Cosco Xiamen. The Aqua Dots were seized coming out of the Foreign Trade Zone in Seattle. These shipments had been previously entered into the trade zone prior to the ban.
   The Seattle seizure follows recent CBP Aqua Dots seizures in International Falls, Minnesota, Norfolk, Virginia, and Savannah, Georgia.
   Authorities also stopped a Canadian tractor-trailer at the northern border port of Sumas, Wash., on Dec. 15 that carried $373,000 of currency and 127 pounds of marijuana in a false roof compartment. The truck was carrying a shipment of aluminum railing components bound for California. It was referred to a mobile gamma ray inspection, which detected an unusual roof area. A manual inspection revealed the hydraulic-operated compartment behind some shelving.
   The contraband had apparently been sprayed with oleoresin capsicum (OC spray) and vinegar in an attempt to defeat inspection by CBP canine units.
   The agency also seized 460 pounds of marijuana hidden in a false roof compartment of a tractor-trailer entering the country at the Lynden, Wash., border crossing. The driver, Marc Simon Bessette, 30, a Canadian citizen from Surrey, British Columbia, was arrested and faces federal prosecution.