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Two Men Detained At US Border For Carrying Chocolate Eggs

by Jessica Festa (RSS feed) on Jul 23rd 2012 at 5:00PM

In the past year, there have been stories of travelers getting in trouble for painting their nails on flights, telling jokes on Twitter and traveling with baked goods. The most recent scandal in the world of surprising travel crimes, involves two men trying to cross the border from Canada to the United States with chocolate eggs.

During a trip to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Brandon Loo and Christopher Sweeney decided they wanted to bring treats back home to friends and family in Seattle, Washington. They decided on Kinder Eggs, chocolate eggs containing small toys inside. Unfortunately, the surprises ended up getting the men detained at the border.

According to CBC News, because children can choke on the toys inside the eggs, they are illegal to bring into the U.S. Moreover, travelers who decide to attempt to bring them into the country could incur a hefty fine. In 2011, there were over 60,000 Kinder Eggs seized from travelers' luggage and international mail shipments.

In the end, the men were only detained for a few hours, getting off with a simple warning.

Will you be traveling on an airplane, and want to know what you shouldn't bring? Check out these strange items prohibited by the TSA.

[Image via Matanya]

Filed under: Food and Drink, Photos, North America, Canada, United States, Airports, News

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Reader Comments (Page 3 of 4)

kinder chambers Jul 24th 2012 4:59PM

Gosh, my name is KINDER:: Glad to read all t his.. I'll be sure to NOT go to Canada and try to come back across the border.

Laura Jul 24th 2012 4:54PM

If we can't bring these types of candy into the US because it's "illegal", then why is it that during Christmas time I bought 2 chocolate ornaments with a toy surpise on the inside at Walgreens in Illinois? And I am almost positive I saw the smae thing during Easter time.

sg Jul 24th 2012 8:22PM

They were detained for hours? Couldn't this have been resolved in 5 minutes?

Wilbur Jul 24th 2012 5:19PM

I thought chocolate came from cocoa plants. I didn't know it came from eggs. I wish I had paid more attention in school.

gordy Jul 24th 2012 5:20PM

Ahhhh, the dreaded melting chocolate egg. It melts in your console not in your mouth.

JEFF Jul 24th 2012 5:23PM

I used to get these from Ontario, but right after 9/11, the company said they could no longer export Kinder eggs. I now buy them locally (AZ) and from another Canadian firm with no trouble. I imported them as recently as Easter, and I got one the size of an ostrich egg. Why hasn't the government stopped the production of Cracker Jacks? It makes about the same sense, they have a non food item in their box, a toy or puzzle. But they are made in the USA. I think the non food issue is a ruse, someone thinks a terrorist could put a small bomb in them. Really stupid.

I have complained to my Congressman, so that grandpas like me can be legal once again.

John Butkus Jul 24th 2012 9:36PM

For those of you who DIDN'T read the article - the two men were triing to bring candy eggs with a plastic toy inside from Canada to the U.S.. The candy eggs are legal in Canada, and illegal is the U.S.. Just because people are ignorant of the law(s) doens't make the people enforcing the law bad. If you drive to Canada or Mexico, the Border Patrol agent's can usuually give you a list of what's legal to bring back. A little information can save you a lot of trouble!

jeannette Jul 24th 2012 6:00PM

This is crazy I grew up with those eggs you can buy them all over europe and I never heard of any incident where a child got hurt by it-By the way I saw them here in florida at many stores I wonder where they came from I do not think they were smuggled in

Houcasey Jul 24th 2012 6:02PM

But they could have purchased automatic assault rifles and unlimited ammunition here.

Jack Jul 24th 2012 6:13PM

Don't we have anything better to do?

bill mc grath Jul 24th 2012 6:25PM

Good to see Canada isn't as paranoid as some in the US! They actually think parents can take some responsibility for the actions of their children! I assume Cheerios will be banned next!

UncleJohn Jul 24th 2012 7:05PM

We truly are insance.

UncleJohn Jul 24th 2012 7:06PM

insane.

In the membrane.

Jill Harpool Jul 24th 2012 7:35PM

This is so stupid,I live in S FL and can drive right up the street to the british market and buy them by the box full,I send them through the mail to my neices and nephews every Easter,have been doing it for years.The chocolate tastes better then the chocolate here in the U.S. I buy all my candies at the british market,the Jelly Tots are really good!!!!

Roscoe Jul 24th 2012 8:30PM

I travel by car to and from Alaska once a year and have been for the past 19 years. The U.S. Customs officers (arriving from Canada into my home in the U.S.) have consistently been obnoxious, overbearing, playground-bully; asses. I live in AZ, and could not agree more with the comment of: they do a great job stopping the plastic eggs; hassling honest U.S. citizens and being totally ineffective and incompetent where illegal border crossers are concerned. It is embarrassing to be a citizen of a country that tolerates this behavior from its representatives.

Kenneth S. Doig Jul 24th 2012 7:49PM

The United States in no longer a constitutional republic, i.e., an indirect democracy, with rule of law, no longer a Kantian "Rechtstaat" but a full-blown dictatorship that is now unveiling itself to the public. As long as people keep voting for Democrat, socialistic/corporatist/globalist/totalitarian/authoritarian/nannycrat-statists, or Republicans, über-Zionist-Neocon/Israel-&-its-extreme-bellicosity-firsters/corporatist/globalist/totalitarian/authoritarian/nannycrat-statists.......too late fellow Americans.......I believe we are beyond any political solutions. When the treasons Congress and the foreign-born president-idiot (I am honest, I left the Rep's the second, yes, the second, I hear "W" say "we have a war on terror". On its face, semantically-speaking, it's idiotic, how does one make war on a abstraction like "terror". Right then it clicked into place. Orwellian. 911. False-flags.)
voted for the NDAA & almost zero Americans even know about it. It is NOT too important, just your right (as the accused) to have a judge or magistrate review your arrest; why, how, where? Then deem it the arrest be righteous or not. The judge lets you go, dismisses charges, or lets you go on bail/bond or remands you until trial......Say goodbye to that and having a defense-attorney, say goodbye to that phonecall to your family or lawyer. They euphemistically call it rendition. If any human, anywhere on earth, including US citizens in KS, NY, FL, WA or CA is just suspected that he/she might, one day, in future, possibly could have or currently have sympathy towards CIA-created fake terrorists, just suspected by some military goons, FBI or other FEDs, it's a sack over your head and "INDEFINITE DETENTION". Say hello to hell and it's our fault because we were too lazy to watch our politicians. My family came from Scotland & England pre-Revolution. We did not heed Ben Franklin's warning to the woman who asked (at the conclusion of the 1789 constitutional convention)--"what have you gentlemen in there given us?", replied Franklin, "a republic, the questions is, if ye can keep it." We neglected it, now prepare for horrid abuses. Kenneth Stephen Doig protogermanic.com

Hokanut Jul 24th 2012 8:20PM

Someone choked and sued because they could. Now chocolate eggs with toys are illegal. I'm amazed we can still get a cup of coffee at McDonalds. People who sue instead of taking responsibility for their own actions should be arrested and forced to serve piping hot coffee to the rest of us...for free.