Seattle men busted at the border with illegal candy
SEATTLE -- Two Seattle men were recently pinched crossing the Canadian border, but the men weren't carrying guns or drugs -- they were packing illegal candy.
Brandon Loo and Christopher Sweeney were on a trip to Vancouver when they decided to bring home some treats for friends and family.
They bought Kinder Eggs. The chocolate eggs, which aren't available in America, come with a toy inside.
Without thinking much of it, the duo picked up six of the eggs before heading home.
"We packed it in the back of the car because we weren't going to eat them," Loo said.
When they got to the border, the guards began searching the car and soon found the eggs.
"He said, 'Are you aware kinder eggs are illegal in the United States and carry a $2,500 fine per egg?' And I actually laughed," Sweeney said.
As it turns out, Kinder Eggs are banned from the United States because they contain a "non-nutritive object embedded" inside them.
Loo and Sweeney spent two-and-a-half hours in a border detention center pleading their case to officers.
"They wasted our time," Sweeney said. "They wasted the money spent on the agents to do this and there are other cars that went through without checking them at all."
The men eventually got off with a warning. Last year alone, Customs and Border Protection seized 25,000 Kinder Eggs.
Brandon Loo and Christopher Sweeney were on a trip to Vancouver when they decided to bring home some treats for friends and family.
They bought Kinder Eggs. The chocolate eggs, which aren't available in America, come with a toy inside.
Without thinking much of it, the duo picked up six of the eggs before heading home.
"We packed it in the back of the car because we weren't going to eat them," Loo said.
When they got to the border, the guards began searching the car and soon found the eggs.
"He said, 'Are you aware kinder eggs are illegal in the United States and carry a $2,500 fine per egg?' And I actually laughed," Sweeney said.
As it turns out, Kinder Eggs are banned from the United States because they contain a "non-nutritive object embedded" inside them.
Loo and Sweeney spent two-and-a-half hours in a border detention center pleading their case to officers.
"They wasted our time," Sweeney said. "They wasted the money spent on the agents to do this and there are other cars that went through without checking them at all."
The men eventually got off with a warning. Last year alone, Customs and Border Protection seized 25,000 Kinder Eggs.
You can buy them on Amazon.com
so silly...you know those boarder guys stuffed their faces or brought those candies home to their own kids.
yay homeland security. priorities, folks.....
It is about hiding drugs inside candy, making it impossible for dogs to sniff out let alone agents, sniffing, handling or tastin yer-sweets. So to speak. Often, rules and legislation gets quietly passed or sometimes very cunningly, very loudly, for One Set of Reasons, by this Agency...no Wait, THAT Agency, over There. Maybe Way Over... When it is Really ABSOLUTELY ALL ABOUT Big Lobby (virtually always anymore, and this Now Includes Big Labor *Including* Gov Employees) Driving, "this VERY Quietly, over here." Look up GLB Act for the Arguably Most "Model" Big Lobby Giant (too fat for Elected Officials to Read let Alone Understand) Bill. Where we were ALL TOLD it was the Sheep's Wool, Financial Info Privacy Protection. Including due Front Page News Internet Hacks and Data Thefts. Seemed a Smart Thing. So Everyone Signed It. But The Two Viraciously Hungry Wolves, Have Reshaped the American Landscape Today, Arguably FAR MORE EFFECTIVELY THAN HAS ANY OTHER BILL in Easily Several Decades. Usury Effectively Gone. So no Loan Sharks or Racketeers Go to Fed Pens Anymore. They've Gone Legit and Are in Big Banking Now...and wait for this one... Too Big To Fail EXPRESSLY DUE Repeal of Glass Steagall. Mega Merger Mania Ensued All Across Banking, Finance and Insurance. Mafia also used to Sell Insurance which Nicely Complimented their Product & "Service" Lines, in Loans on "Offers You Simply Couldn't Refuse." ...Great Classic Sales Guys, dey
insane.
Really??????I grew up with the eggs..never even thought of eating the toys..and my 2"AMERICAN KIDS" were always smart enough to know not to eat the plastic toys..this says alot about the Adults I think,dont they teach smal kids not to eat everything or supervise ??..What is wrong with this picture..to sad that american kids have to miss out
on something like this
Glad to know about this - I had no idea. Glad it was 'news'. As far as crossing between Canada and US - I've gotten a lot more flak from the US border agents and was actually banned from coming back into the US because I had 36 bottles of BC wine - it's illegal in some states for an individual to bring wine back from another country. A lot depends on the border agent you encounter but I always stayed neutral because anything can set them off. I did get stopped one time in Victoria with the Canadian customs because I had cactus that actually had 'made in canada' on them and they wanted to know how I got these, etc. We all had a good laugh and they let me through.Â
Don't the border guards have enough real work to do?
The reason it is outlawed here is because the U.S has become a sue happy place. Instead of people taking responsibility for what they do they would rather blame others and sue. And as far as the laws go there are so many loop holes that judges cannot do anything but award them there cases because some lawyer found a loophole.
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And how could a parent not see that there is something non edible in the egg, not only is a toy in it but the toy is also encased in a little plastic egg. So if a child chokes it clearly the parents fault for not watching the child while they are eating the candy!
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So sad that they gave these men such a hard time over CANDY! I wonder how many drugs came over the border in the cars they were not checking, while they were giving these men such a hard time??
Because a idiot ADULT allowing their child to play with a small object....it gets banned and WARNING LABELS has to be place on all small objects....often wonder when their going to place warning on JELLY BEANS...and outlaw those too
Being German I grew up with Kinder Eggs. The chocolate is great and kids love the little toys. Reason why they are illegal here is because kids could shoke on the toys...if parents be watching them that wouldn't happen. I brought some back from Germany before...didn't know its such a high fine..might not do that again lol
*choking
My Mother-In-Law brought a bunch of these from Belgium for the kids, they LOVED them, I thought they were really neat! My daugther got some with hello kitty toys inside , really cute! Â Lucky she didn't get busted, I had no idea! So dumb! There are better things the officers could be doing....
They could make one for the American market which lacks the toy, and call it the Unkinder Egg ;-).
My family had a similar experience. Why don't they advertise this as most people are unaware. As to the fine and being treated like a criminal it is wrong. OK confiscate the goods..who would care. Â But don't terrorize people over such an issue
Every year in Louisiana tens of thousands of King Cakes are sold for Mardi Gras. Whoever finds the plastic baby in their piece has to buy the next cake. They used to bake the dolls into the cakes but now they put them in the box and leave it to the customers to insert them because of these laws.
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's 1997 ruling declaring the toys an unacceptable choking hazard. The candy also violates a Food and Drug Administration rule against ânonnutritive itemsâ in food.----- Its our own fault, the US I mean, banning these in the first place. Apparently they are "hidden" and cracker jacks can be poured out of the box and visible? Seems like we need to petition US Consumer products safety commission..as if they would listen.
Just as bad on the other side. The Canadian government is turning back tourist if they have ANY criminal record. No matter how small or how old. This is tourist dollars being thrown away because some 20 year old moron border guards have a new toy. The tourist then has to pay a $250 to apply for "rehabilitation"  This is not PENDING charges, mind you, but even ones already adjudicated. Has NOTHING to do with national security. @boycott_canada Â
@ John P - grow up - Canada is another country, they don't belong to the US of A. They can have all the laws they want to.
 @John P your gov does the same lol..
I spent years drag racing in Mission,BC. Coming back across the border US customs would check out the coolers, fridge in the motorhome,plus the enclosed racecar trailer.If I had any perishable food meat products,cheese,etc) and could not present a receipt from a US grocery store,the food was confiscated. I made the comment that wow! You guys must eat really well! didnt go over well at all-they told me that it was to destroyed-all the food was either frozen or very well refridgerated-I was hoping that it would go to a foodbank or something like that,but no luck-what a waste!
I get it - yes - its extreme. BUT - I believe the reason why they are seizing them, is because they can hide SOMETHING - not just a toy. So, don't blame customs, blame the CARTEL for using kids with KinderEggs to smuggle cocaine, etc.
I also used to like them, but the toy was always kind of cheap.
 @Absolut John LOL.  No, you dope, it has nothing to do with drugs or terrorism.  They're banned in the US because of a 1938 law that says you can't have non-functional objects embedded in candy.  The argument has been made that the toy isn't truly "embedded" but the FDA says it's a choking hazard, so that's that.
 @Absolut John lots of things can hide cocaine. yet we dont make all those things illegal. are you listening to yourself? it is the mexican drug cartels fault that the FDA banned kinder eggs coming from canada. everyone get out their tin foil hats....
 @Absolut John So should tires, suitcases, backpacks, etc. all be seized as well?
I always wondered why I never saw them here. I always loved getting them when I was in Germany. Would have never guessed that they were illegal. That's just stupid.
I feel sorry for the American People that there government should feel that the children of the country cannot figure out that they are not supposed to eat the toy. Â Or that all the parents in the country cannot read a simple warning, "small parts".
 @ThyBountyHunter The Canadian border is turning back tourists if one of them has ANY criminal record, no matter how old, or how small a charge. It's pathetic on both ends
Yes lets go after the really bad guys now the candy buyers of the world. Â I wonder if the dental industry has anything to do with this?
What a waste of time. That is why you are trillions in debt...
 @Plow Robinson and how is your county's debt situation looking?
Wow! I always buy about 10 of those kinder surprise eggs in our way back to Seattle from Canada.Â
I did not know that they are illegal. I collect the toys. I grew up in Europe and I love those eggs and I cannot find them anywhere in the USA (now I know why) .Â
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Seems like the vendor or whoever they bought these candies from probably knew that law and sold them to the Americans anyway...a sign up in the shop would be nice. Â I didn't know they were illegal either, but I buy nothing from Canada anyway.
 @fyrefawx why should the vendor have a sign up? theyre perfectly legal there and everywhere else in the world. if the americans didnt know their own laws then they accept responsibility for their ignorance of those laws, no matter how dumb they may be. By your reasoning, everything in american stores that is sold freely there should have signs specific to all the countries that theyre illegal to. now that would be ridiculous. Â
a nanny state it is - give me a break!  what a waste of tax payer money - and maybe an indication of the kind of people being hired by CPB - I thought those kind of mindless officers were all working for TSA.  I mean what happened to an officer's use of common sense and discretion - it's not like they had a carload full - take the goods, warn the people and send them on their way -
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 @vitaest You got it, nanny state at its finest. They do us a favor you know because we can't think for ourselves. Many years ago some friends and I came back across from Mexico with booze (much cheaper). We knew the rules at the time and we each had one bottle. We had forgotten about the six pack of Tecate in the fridge, and the dam officer gave us a ration and made us wait for over an hour because of that nonsense. Wish they were as fervent enforcing immigration laws as they are with freaking candy and booze...
 @jimbob You have a really lousy attitude and lack of respect for the rule of law.
 @felidstar unfortunately 'mens rea" (guilty mind) is a tenant of our legal system that is slowly disappearing
 @j3812respect is earned not given.
Actually no, sounds like he had a lot of respect for the law, knew the law... but anyone can slip up.The laws were put into place to prevent people trying to avoid importation fees and tariffs on items they intended to resell - NOT to stop some guys on a weekend jaunt down to Tijuana from bringing back some decent tequila. I know they have to draw the line somewhere, but sometimes there is a huge difference between the INTENT and the LETTER of a law :(
 @vitaest I can see how those candies could be hazardous to small children - or even adults if they didn't know there was an object inside.
 @fyrefawx I realize that you may have never had the chance to see this in person but if you see the pic above.  When you open the chocolate egg, there is another yellow egg container that is just slightly smaller that contains the toy.  My 2 year old can figure out that it is not edible.  I am certain that the American public could as well.
/ @fyrefawx Are there toys that cant be hazardous to small children? Ever hear of Legos?
 @Charlotte Norton So, why not buy the eggs, eat the chocolate, and THEN bring the toys back? But then I love chocolate so they would never make it to the border anyway!Â
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 @j3812 so parents shouldn't allow their children to have them. it is not a legitimate reason to ban them. the government is not here to protect us and our children from every conceivable harm by banning this and that. there are things, even food items, many times more dangerous, and which kill many more children in an year than the 4 over a decade you speak of. yet those things remain legal. your argument is gasping for air...
The toy is not *actually* embedded in the egg, it is in a plastic container within. You crack open the egg and take it out and open it up and the toy is inside. Even if a child put the plastic container in it's mouth it is way to big for them to be able to swallow, and is completely smooth so would present no risk of cutting the child's mouth. We had these in England often as children and never managed to die from them. The USA is so weird...
 @thatsjarrod The comparison to Legos is invalid. Of course everything can be hazardous to small children and adults alike when used improperly.  A child or adult can choke on a Lego but they are far less likely to put a Lego in their mouth and choke on it than they are what looks like a Cadbury chocolate Easter egg.  An adult **might** know that Kinder eggs contain a toy inside but a child is unlikely to know so.  It's not just because it's a "non-nutritive object embedded"; it's undeniably a choking hazard--4 children worldwide choked to death on the toys from 1991-98 alone per a quick glance at Wikipedia.
"...on a trip to Vancouver when they decided to bring home some treats for friends and family." Lol! - it's not like they planned to resell them kinder eggs here in the US which I feel that is the only way a person should ever be in trouble over them. But for what they were doing, this is a classic case of "what they don't know don't hurt you".
"Non-Nutritive Object Embedded"Â Â Sounds like a Punk-Rock Band.
How is it news when a pair of attention mongers make a claim that they were 'detained' over candy?I'm calling shenanigans on this story. These two are just trying to milk their alleged story for as much attention as possible. For someone who is an IP Law attorney, it seems a bit disingenuous when he tries so hard to play the innocent naif. "...this could be something horrible. People with guns all around us..."
 @NoBillC68 I'm one of them "with guns all around us" though not in this story specifically and no one is in danger of being shot or threatened over Kinder eggs.  These two whiners have to just acknowledge that they violated the law and ignorance thereof is no excuse.  Don't turn around and complain about what's wasting whose time and whose money.  Sometimes a routine exam of a car, baggage or a person leads to something far more serious than Kinder eggs.  They probably wound up having the car examined because of their lousy attitude and answers to routine questions.
 @j3812 so your justification for detaining people and wasting government resources is "they might find something more serious next time"? keep grasping j