Pittsburgh’s Pirates lose their eye patches after feds seize shipment

Charlie Dwyer

PITTSBURGH – A shipment of Chinese made pirate eye patches heading for the Pittsburgh area have been seized and confiscated by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents.

It’s not sure exactly where the eye patches were headed, but if you were waiting for 3,740 pirate eye patches, you’re going to have to find another way to get them.

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“There are likely to be some perturbed plundering pirates pillaging around Pittsburgh, but U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) only wants to ensure that they sack the city safely,” the CBP said.


The patches initially arrived in two shipments from Hong Kong. The first shipment arrived on January 4 and consisted of 2,300 medicated eye patches. The second shipment of 1,440 medicated eye patches arrived on February 8. Both shipments were destined to separate addresses in Allegheny County, Pa. Upon close examination, none of the packaging contained English-language directions or ingredients. CBP officers detained both shipments and submitted photos and documentation of the medicated eye patches to FDA inspectors.

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The FDA determined that the products violated the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act as adulterated or misbranded medical products and directed CBP to seize the eye patches.

Import specialists at CBP’s Centers of Excellence and Expertise, the agency’s trade experts, assessed the domestic value of the collective lot of medicated eye patches at more than $10,000.

“As our nation’s border security agency, Customs and Border Protection examines imports every day to ensure that the consumer goods comply with all applicable U.S. laws, and that they pose no harm to American consumers. We take this responsibility very serious,” said Keith Fleming, CBP’s Acting Director of Field Operations in Baltimore. “CBP remains steadfast in our continuing commitment to working with our consumer safety partners in our collective mission to help keep our citizens safe.”

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