In 2023 the US Customs and Border Protection seized $2.7B in counterfeit goods being smuggled into the United States. How much successfully entered is unknown. Of seized goods 65.9% came from China. 8% of the total was fake consumer electronics (cpb.gov).
Currently, it’s estimated that one in every 10 IT products sold worldwide may be counterfeit. In some cases, fake components infiltrate supply chains and end up being sold by legitimate retailers, making it even harder to tell the genuine products from the fakes. CSCGlobal
CBP seizes $1.1 Million in Counterfeit Electronics in Joint Operation with Hong Kong Customs 1/3/2017 cpb.gov
Amazon, Apple and Samsung have webpages to help consumers identify fake products. Counterfeit products such as cosmetics and pharmaceuticals can cause severe health complications.
On September 17 and 18 of 2024, pagers and walkie talkies owned by Hezbollah militia members exploded. The first wave of explosions occurred on 17 September, around 15:30 EEST, killing at least 12 people, including two Hezbollah members and two children, and wounding more than 2,750 including Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon. The second wave occurred on 18 September, killing at least 30 people and injuring over 750. Wikipedia
Batteries cannot be triggered to explode with a virus. The devices must have been manufactured with explosive charges in them. The question becomes; who manufactured these devices?
The devices were tracked to Taiwan based Gold Apollo. Hsu Ching-kuang, the CEO of Gold Apollo said the devices were sold by a Hungarian company called BAC that is licensed to use their brand name (NBCNews). Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono is the owner of BAC Consulting she is currently under Hungarian government protection. She says her company did not manufacture the devices but acted as an intermediary and sold the devices to Hezbollah. (CNA).
Considering the largest percentage of fake electronics come from China and the large number of pagers and walkie talkies that were built with explosives; China seems a likely source. It would be politically expedient for China to arrange the event to appear a company from Taiwan was behind it. Xi Jinping would love to point the blame toward Taiwan.
Could it be the Chinese are simply trying to stoke the fire and extend the current middle eastern conflict? Like the Iranian assassination of Ismail Haniyeh who may have been considering signing a peace agreement (Who Did It?). Is it possible that Mossad arranged the attack through China? Doubtful. Is it possible a Chinese company was acting on it’s own and not in conjunction with the Chinese government? Dangerous.
Miss Barsony-Arcidiacono has not said, in public at least, who manufactured the devices she sold. She is probably more afraid of them than she is of Hezbollah, and may not have been aware of the explosive charges. As long as she is under the guardianship of Viktor Orban she will probably keep her mouth shut.
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