(AllHipHop News) Artists like Erykah Badu, Big Sean, Wiz Kalifa and more have become owners of hoverboards, one of the hottest comodities in 2015. However, the government is cracking down in the interest of public safety.
AllHipHop has exclusively learned that Wednesday U.S. Customs and Border Protection made major move against an import coming from China. The CBP busted a hooverboard company (also called self-balancing scooters) that it maintains was importing hundreds of potentially dangerous versions of the popular transportation toy.
The bust happened on the Port of Miami at the Miami seaport and it was done all in the interest of public safety, said Diane J. Sabatino, Director, Field Operations for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
“As the Director, Field Operations for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, overseeing inspections throughout the State of Florida, I take particular interest in seizures like this one. While self-balancing scooters are certainly prevalent in main stream pop culture, the fact remains that certain versions being imported into the United States are counterfeit and therefore, a safety concern. This is a great example of what the men and women of CBP do on a daily basis to maintain the safety of the American Public.” said Sabatino to AllHipHop.com in an exclusive statement.
No arrests were made at the time of this writing.
“The men and women of CBP have many important roles, said Port Director Dylan DeFrancisci to AllHipHop. “One such role is ensuring that products entering the U.S. are safe. This is an example of ensuring that a product, potentially making its way to a child, has genuine parts and is safe for use.”
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is tasked with several responsibilities in additional to maintaining a secure border with lawful travel into the United States. These duties involve the trade community and ensuring that products are not counterfeit. Furthermore, the division state they are resolute in ensuring the imports are non-hazardous for the American public.
With this Miami seizure and others, it seem that counterfeit or faulty batteries are are the primary concern for the CBP, because hooverboards have been known to catch fire without warning. Officials seized a shipment of 445 hoverboards in Norfolk, Va. on December 16, 2015, because of dangerous and counterfeit trademark batteries.
Below are images of the bust in Miami.
