U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers intercepted shipments on December 2 and December 8. Both shipments were later determined to be counterfeit.
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Officials say the counterfeit N95 masks are dangerous because they could end up in healthcare settings such as hospitals, nursing homes, and clinics. Since the masks are counterfeit, they may not work properly.
"Allowing counterfeits like these to reach the public or our healthcare heroes is a risk we cannot take," said Customs and Border Protection Director Troy Miller.
More than 14 million counterfeit face masks, as well as 180,000 FDA-prohibited COVID-19 test kids and tens of thousands of FDA-prohibited pharmaceuticals, have been seized since the beginning of the pandemic.
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