Business & Tech
1,378 Possibly Explosive Chinese Hoverboards Seized at JFK
The hoverboards' "counterfeit and potentially dangerous batteries" may have caused them to burst into flames, U.S. Customs officials say.
JFK AIRPORT, QUEENS — A grand total of 1,378 counterfeit and possibly explosive Chinese hoverboards were intercepted over the month of December at JFK Airport, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials.
If they’d been sold, the hoverboards would have worth around $447,000 all together, officials said.
“CBP officers and import specialists are protecting the American public from various dangers on a daily basis,” Robert Perez, director of New York field operations for CBP, said in a statement released Friday.
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As of late January, after a holiday season rife with hoverboard gifting, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (or the CPSC, which also helped with the JFK seizures) was reportedly looking into around 40 hoverboard fires across the country.
In Louisiana, an exploding hoverboard is believed to have burned down an entire home last November.
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“Recent reports of fires possibly caused by counterfeit batteries used to power some hoverboards have led to major safety concerns,” the CBP said Friday. These same batteries were allegedly found inside the 1,378 China-made hoverboards seized at JFK in December.
So basically, if not for the CBP and CPSC, this could have been you:
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