Thousands of fake COVID-19 test kits and purported treatments have been picked up in Western New York as part of a national operation by Homeland Security and other federal agencies.
Homeland Security says agents in Buffalo seized about 6,000 phony test kits; thousands of pills, including hydroxychloroquine; 3,400 N95 masks; and $110,000.
The agency says criminal organizations are smuggling and selling counterfeit safety equipment, medicine and hygiene products and selling the products online.
They say “Operation Stolen Promise” has seized more than $3 million in illicit proceeds across the country.