More than 3,000 counterfeit Covid-19 vaccination cards imported from China have been seized from an anchorage airport in Anchorage, Alaska, officials said on Thursday.
Customs and Border Protection officials seized counterfeit cards delivered in small packages to the United States last week, Haime Ruiss, a spokesman for the service, confirmed.
Between 135 and 150 packages sent by a man in China were found in Anchorage, Ruiss said. There were 20 to 25 counterfeit cards in each pack.
The cards seized in Anchorage are very similar to the actual certificates of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued by health care workers to U.S. citizens after vaccination, the service said.
However, this consignment contained low-quality cards.
The business of counterfeit cards has flourished on the web, offering counterfeits to people who do not want to be vaccinated for personal or religious reasons.
Another 3,600 counterfeit cards were recently found in Memphis, Tennessee, Ruiss said.
Memphis and Anchorage airports are among the busiest US cargo airports.
“Ensuring that these counterfeit cards do not take to the streets and into the hands of those who sell them is important to American public health,” said Lans Robinson, director of the service in Anchorage.-
Investigations into these shipments are being conducted by other federal services.
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