Illegal Chinese Child Toys, Autism Chairs, More, Seized in CA

US Customs and Border Patrol routinely make seizures of all sorts of illegal products coming into the US, brought in by smugglers, not just drugs. But this one was eye-brow-raising.

 Chinese products hidden in containers were aimed at children

 US Customs agents at the Los Angeles-Long Beach Port reported the seizure of nearly 2,300 children's toys, changing tables, walkers, and even some balancing chairs intended for use by autistic children.

US Customs reported on Monday, April 29th:

(customs agents) "seized 96 baby walkers, 216 autism balance chairs, 492 baby changing tables, 196 baby/kids step stools, and 1,296 alphabet mystery box toys for failing to comply with U.S. child safety standards. The estimated domestic value of the 2,296 products seized is $79,696."

All of the products failed to contain necessary safety and quality tags and stickers, had sub-par manufacturing quality and more:

"The autism balance chairs violated the Consumer Product Safety Act. The changing tables were found in violation of the safety standard for baby changing products, consumer registration, children’s product certificate, and tracking label requirements."

It's most shocking that this shipment contained products intended to fool or dupe adults of parents who might have purchased one for their autistic child. The items were found hidden in crates that had arrived in the US in January, and February, but were not examined until recently because of port backlogs.

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Suspicious packaging of the original crates and other telltale signs led Customs Agents to set them aside for additional inspection. They had arrived along with legitimate cargo from China, says US Customs.