TWO SEATTLE MEN say they spent more than two hours in a detention centre at the US-Canadian – after border agents took action after discovering illegal Kinder Surprise eggs in their car.
Brandon Loo and Christopher Sweeney told KOMO-TV they decided to bring home some treats for friends and family during a recent trip to Vancouver, British Columbia.
They bought Kinder Eggs — the chocolate eggs with a toy inside, easily available across all of Europe and within Canada and Mexico.
The two men say border guards searched their car and said the eggs are illegal in the United States because young children could choke on the small plastic toys. Importing them can lead to a potentially hefty fine.
Sweeney says the bust was a waste of his time and the agents’ time. The men eventually got off with a warning.
A US Customs and Border Protection spokesman declined to comment about the case.
The agency warned on its website around Easter that the treats cannot be imported legally.
The agency says it seized more than 60,000 Kinder Eggs from travelers’ baggage and international mail shipments in the 2011 fiscal year.
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