Second hand gloves: Sheikders wash protective equipment and illegally sell them on

Thailand, the industrial zone on the edge of Bangkoku.A small warehouse is full of trash bags full of medical gloves made of different materials and different shades of blue, often visibly dirty, even with stains from blood.

Next to it stands a plastic lavor filled with blue dye, in it a few gloves.According to the Thai authorities, workers tried to clean the gloves and return them a new look.Then they put them in new packaging with the logo of Sritrang, a renowned Thai glove manufacturer.Police invaded here in December.

But it was just one of many such operations, others in Thailand continue to work.It seeks to take advantage of high demand for nitrile gloves, which has been driven into unprecedented heights Pandemie Koronavir and which may not be able to fully satisfy for years.And so uncomfortable recovered waste offers seemingly advantageous emergency solution.

FBI warns

CNN has been investigating this trade for several months.Based on import records, thanks to some specific CNN importers, they counted tens of millions of second -hand gloves that have already arrived in the US.And surely these revealed deliveries will only be the tip of the iceberg.Else in the world will not be different.

American and Thai police are already investigating the matter.Right at the beginning of the pandemic, the FBI warned health professionals of fraudulent distributors."Based on the current onslaught on the supplier chain, fraudsters can promise equipment to which they do not have access to benefit from urgent health needs," the federal police said.In particular, she warned against non -fulfillment of contracts, with warning tracks may have been non -standard payment conditions, sudden changes in prices and sudden delays - for example, the claim that the container abstained during a customs inspection.

The current fraudsters actually supply the goods - but unusable."There is an enormous amount of bad product, an endless stream of dirty, used and inferior gloves," Douglas Stein described for CNN Douglas Stein, who has been importing protective equipment for decades.”The authorities seem to be aware of the great scale now.Currently it's the most dangerous commodity on the globe.”

The authorities, on the other hand.

“After the pandemic seriously disrupted the international supplier chains, there were no states to fight each other for limited supplies of protective equipment. Nemocnice a další zařízení čelily klesajícím zásobám a překážkám v získávání nového,” psala před rokem CNN.The hospitals themselves made disinfection, doctors used respirators several times.And even though the equipment just got to get, it has significantly increased and the expensive remains.

Lax rules

The milder rules for the import of protective equipment remain valid to this day. „To platí, pouze pokud rukavice mají odpovídající standard a označení dle regulí,” upřesňuje FDA pro CNN.

Gloves and other protective equipment are produced practically only in Asia.American doctors can only use nitrile gloves that produce only a limited number of specialized factories and a natural rubber for their production is a limited amount.Renowned brands have orders for several years ahead.So suppliers without the relevant history and reputation began to appear on the market.

Tarek Kirschen of Miami ordered a glove delivery of around $ 2 million last year ($ 44.4 miles.CZK) to sell them to the American distributor. „Začali nám volat pořádně naštvaní klienti, křičeli a řvali, že jsme jim to podělali,” svěřuje se Kirschen pro CNN.When the second shipping container arrived in Miami, he went to see the goods himself.“They were used gloves.Washed, recycled.Some were dirty, some were stains from blood, on others even a date from last year's. Nemohl jsem věřit svým očím,” popisuje podnikatel.He returned the money to the customers, threw the gloves to the landfill and in February 2021 alerted the Federal Drug Control office (FDA).

He assures that none of his gloves have been used by health professionals, but Import imports according to CNN show that from the same Thai company - Paddy The Room - other American distributors have bought nearly 200 million gloves.It is not yet clear what happened to them or how many of them actually arrived in the US.

Gloves torn, from blood

Most importers did not want to talk to journalists, but the other two confirmed that the deliveries were inferior, sometimes it wasn't even nitril.UWEPORT admitted that the medical facility did not sell them, instead of the discount on the food and gastronomy.

Liberty LLC received an apparent shit as since Paddy The Room and another company from Vietnam. „Rukavice děravé, poskvrněné, natrhlé, v různých barvách a odstínech,” popsal prezident firmy Firas Jarrar.

Inspection in the Los Angeles warehouse of Airqueen revealed the same Šlendrian: holes, spots and latex or vinyl instead of better nitrile.Louis's boss did not even try to sell the inferior product to hospitals, although they practically begged. „Je šokující, že ti dodavatelé nebyli na černém seznamu,” kroutí hlavou.

From Paddy The Room before his own delivery he received records of independent quality control;A company on behalf of which the inspection was signed has confirmed that they are falsified documents.

Even at the beginning of the year, he contacted the drug office as well as the customs administration.Nevertheless, the reaction did not come to the US in February another 28 containers with more than 80 million gloves from Paddy The Room.Only a minimum of inspections are carried out in American ports, inferior goods are usually recognized at the end customer.

Raid in ports

Only in August FDA - five months after alerting from two entrepreneurs - sent out to her port staff that shipments from Paddy The Room are straight, without control, to hold back.Customs Guard for CNN said she had detained 40 million counterfeit masks and hundreds of thousands of other protective equipment.She detained some of the gloves of the gloves, the amount did not specify.

When the US got to the US so much, does it mean that the system has failed?asked the CNN of the Ministry for the Internal Security under which the customs officers fall. „Nevím, jestli je to správně formulovaná otázka,” odpověděl agent speciálních operací Mike Rose.“I think we would all like to get a single dangerous counterfeit product to the US - and I think we are working on it. Myslím, že jsme modelem pro celý svět, jak co nejlépe koordinovat úsilí mezi různými úřady, abychom skutečně zastavili takový dovoz, obchod a další kriminální aktivity související s covidem,” doplnil agent s tím, že zátahů na padělané či jinak vadné ochranné pomůcky i další zboží už bylo přes dva tisíce.

Their Thai colleagues are also trying, but to trace the counterfeiters is not exactly easy.The owner of that warehouse revealed in December was arrested, but his tenant failed to accuse, Hong Kong's inhabitants.Followed at least ten similar raids. „Objem nelegálních rukavic, jež jsme našli, je enormní,” popsala zástupkyně generálního tajemníka thajského lékového úřadu Supattra Boonsermová.It didn't stop the production anyway. „Prostě se přesunuli na jiné místo, do jiného skladiště,” vysvětluje pro CNN, proč se tento byznys jen tak nepodaří zarazit.

Agents caught the workers as the gloves scrub, coloring with food coloring, and to use them faster, using clothes dryers.Often gloves are collected in China or Indonesia and send for recycling to Thailand, Boonserm said.

Other Sheikders tracked by Thai guardians of law according to records.In the exposed paddy warehouse The Room was also boxes with Skymed. „To jsou rozhodně podvodníci,” uvedla Boonsermová.The company has a license to import medical gloves from Vietnam, but has never made any to Thailand - nor does it produce them in the country.

But as long as the pandemic is relieved, or the production does not lift, the initiation does not believe that the fraudsters managed to stop: “The demand for gloves is still high. Stále čekají zákazníci,” uvedla Boonsermová. „Je to zločinné ad absurdum v každém článku dodavatelského řetězce,” uzavírá Stein.