Showing posts with label Bombs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bombs. Show all posts

Monday, November 9, 2020

The vast majority of illegal Hawaii fireworks come in shipping containers. The money goes to Chinese Communist Party

 Compiled by Ewa Historian John Bond

The vast majority of illegal Hawaii fireworks come in shipping containers. The money goes to Chinese Communist Party business bureaucrats like Fireworks Kingpin Mr. Ding

Making China Great Again. For Fireworks, U.S. Almost Totally Depends On China according to investigative reports by the Washington Post, National Public Radio, Los Angeles Times, India Today and Other Investigative media.

Report on Hawaii and US Fireworks from major investigative news organizations

"Ninety-nine percent of the backyard consumer fireworks come directly from China," said Julie Heckman, executive director of the American Pyrotechnics Association. "And about 70 percent of the professional display fireworks are manufactured in China."

The American Pyrotechnics Association estimates that Americans spend more than $1 billion on fireworks each year. The vast majority of that money goes to a mysterious “Mr. Ding” and Chinese Communist Party bureaucrats. But despite the exploding China trade deficit President Trump never directed any protectionist crackdown or trade tariffs on the China fireworks mafia that put nearly all American fireworks companies out of business. WHY?

Companies founded by Ding have arranged the transportation of 241 million pounds of fireworks, loaded onto 7,400 containers from China to the United States. (It was Republican President Richard Nixon, who “opened China” that allowed the takeover of the US Fireworks business by Communist China.)

Much of Hawaii’s illegal fireworks come from containers sent to Nevada where they are sold to resellers who smuggle them into West Coast cities and Hawaii. Often smugglers also handle illegal weapons and hard drugs. Illegal fireworks come into the United States primarily through four Western ports— Oakland, Long Beach, Los Angeles, and Seattle. And then to Honolulu.

The Police in California and Hawaii complain that once all of the illegal fireworks get distributed there is almost nothing under the laws that they can do to prosecute anyone. If not stopped by container inspections in entry ports it is usually too late. There are warehouses filled with fireworks that exist solely because it is close to the California border, or in industrial areas like Kalaeloa Barbers Point for distribution on Oahu and State-wide.

Fireworks that are illegal almost everywhere else are easily purchased in huge quantities in large stores in places like Clark County, Nevada. The fireworks are often relabeled with graphics showing large gorillas, nearly naked girls, military commandos and American flags. But $$$ All Making China Great Again.

One of the easiest places to legally buy huge amounts of illegal fireworks of all kinds is in Nevada where they are technically illegal but sellers get around this by issuing buyers a “permit” to explode their haul at a local 22 acre fireworks explosion park. Of course nearly every one buying fireworks head immediately to West Coast cities and Hawaii to sell them on the street at big markups.

Containers come into Honolulu all the time without any inspections, other than State Agriculture, and are trucked around Oahu or held in Kalaeloa Barbers Point industrial yards where all the illegal explosives are prepositioned for local distribution. This used to happen around July 4th and New Year’s Eve but illegal bombs and aerials are now a 24/7 all year round black market industry.

Everyone nationwide in all cities coast to coast have noticed the vast increase in huge neighborhood explosions morning noon and night. The fireworks are all marketed as “patriotic” but other than the smuggler-dealer markup the profits all go back to Mr. Ding and his Chinese Communist bureaucrat business partners.

Fireworks are responsible for setting off major fires in the western US, house fires in Hawaii and were the ignition source for the huge Beirut blast in 2020.

Ding’s China Fireworks Mafia

The Worldwide Fireworks Boss – 2018 Washington Post Investigation

Roughly 70 percent of all Chinese fireworks entering the United States come here under the control of a Chinese businessman who has used his influence to raise prices and block competitors, leaving many U.S. executives fearful of losing access to their most important Fourth of July inventories.

Ding Yan Zhong — known to industry insiders as “Mr. Ding” — has managed the flow of fireworks for a decade through the two companies he founded, Shanghai Huayang and Firstrans International.

He has broadened his empire by consolidating power in China, expanding his reach into California and becoming the most important player in fireworks logistics on both sides of the Pacific Ocean. And Hawaii.

Special permissions required to see Ding’s manufacturing sites

Ding has US Fireworks Groups Afraid Their Bombs and Explosions will Be Cut Off

Chinese fireworks entering the United States come here under the control of  Chinese businessman Ding, who has used his massive controlling influence to raise firework prices and block nearly all competitors, leaving many U.S. executives fearful of losing access to their most important Fourth of July inventories if they say or oppose him.

Now, The Washington Post investigation found, Ding’s control of the fireworks delivery chain is nearly complete, according to two dozen shipping and fireworks executives, more than 40,000 fireworks shipping records, numerous court documents and other sources.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/business/the-largest-supplier-of-american-fireworks-is-from-china/

The Washington Post attempted to get an interview with Ding, but Instead, Ding’s vice general manager — Danny Zhou — said the interview had been canceled after concerns raised by a “relevant authority” he would not identify.

He provided little information besides saying that Ding was from Shanghai and was born in 1969. Little else is known about Ding outside of his role in the fireworks industry, and his business partners declined to provide a photograph of him or point to one.

Ding’s facilities use individual bunkers for the most dangerous prep work

Most of the fireworks go LEGALLY through major West Coast ports, such as Los Angeles and Long Beach and then use ILLEGAL redistribution through Nevada. Often the same Black Market groups that smuggle hard drugs and unlicensed weapons into major US cities, including Honolulu and Neighbor Islands.

Ding’s nearly total control has allowed him to bump up prices sharply. Ding charged between $8,000 and $15,000 to ship a container of the consumer fireworks sold at roadside tents and nearly $20,000 for the larger fireworks used at professional shows in July, according to officials at U.S. and Chinese companies who have relied on him for access.

The dynamic is well-known within the industry, but executives at some U.S. firms supplied by Ding’s companies say they are extremely wary of speaking out against Ding. Multiple fireworks executives in the United States and China refer to Ding and Huayang interchangeably, saying their interactions with the company largely revolved around his decision-making. A number of executives interviewed for this story refused to speak on the record, worried they would lose access to fireworks.

Ding, through one of his most senior advisers, Hu Yulu, agreed to meet with Washington Post reporters for an interview in Shanghai. But he never appeared.

Chinese Communist Party Controls The US Fireworks Market, Period.

America “patriots” send huge amounts of money to China for the thrill of loud explosions and flashes of bright light. An opportunity to blow off fingers or get permanently blinded. However Trump completely left Mr. Ding and the CCP fireworks profiteers alone without any tariffs because they serve America’s “patriotic needs.”

American fireworks importers are totally afraid of Mr. Ding.

“Everything going through Shanghai goes through Mr. Ding and Huayang,” said Julie Heckman, executive director of the American Pyrotechnics Association, a U.S. trade group for fireworks companies. “We have no choice. You want to get your products, that’s what you do. . . . The industry is at the mercy of that, and nobody wants to rock the boat.”

From the southeastern Chinese city of Liuyang, where the majority of U.S.-bound fireworks are made, producers often load their products onto Huayang trucks. After they are stored in a Huayang warehouse, Huayang runs access to the barges they float down on the Yangtze River toward Shanghai. Once there, Huayang arranges for their shipment across the Pacific to the West Coast ports.

Ding makes massive profits from America, Making China Great Again.

In the United States, Ding’s containers arrive stuffed with 30,000 pounds of pyrotechnics, most frequently received by Firstrans, which was founded by Ding seven years ago, completing an 11,000-mile journey connected to Ding every step of the way.

An upstart shipping company run by Danish executives tried to enter the global fireworks business but rapidly backed out, receiving threats from Communist Party officials in control the Shanghai port. In a federal bankruptcy filing, U.S.-based Globe Express said it was told by Shanghai officials that it could forget ever shipping through Shanghai. The company also said it went beyond business maneuvers to something more sinister.

“This disruption included threats against Globe Express’s staff, the active blocking of transport and unloading of Globe Express’s cargo on other carriers’ container ships at Shanghai and other actions that made it impossible for Globe Express to conduct the majority of its business in China,” the company said in a court filing.

For Independence Day Fireworks, U.S. Depends On China

https://www.npr.org/2018/07/03/625405653/for-independence-day-fireworks-u-s-depends-on-china#:~:text=%22Ninety%2Dnine%20percent%20of%20the,fireworks%20are%20manufactured%20in%20China.%22

Americans will spend more than $900 million this year on bottle rockets, Roman candles, and other fireworks. But those of us who want to celebrate Independence Day with a bang are almost totally dependent on China for supplies.

"Ninety-nine percent of the backyard consumer fireworks come directly from China," said Julie Heckman, executive director of the American Pyrotechnics Association. "And about 70 percent of the professional display fireworks are manufactured in China."

American distributors of China Fireworks lobby against any US tariffs

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-the-chinese-tariff-fight-could-snuff-out-a-key-american-summer-tradition-2019-06-14

We’re concerned the heartland of America will be most affected in terms of their skies being dark on Independence Day.’ - American Pyrotechnics Association

It's virtually impossible to buy American fireworks

https://www.news-leader.com/story/news/local/ozarks/2018/06/30/pokin-around-buy-american-fireworks-impossible/744187002/

"Fireworks, for the most part, are hand-made products. Very little of the production is mechanical," Rogers says. And much of the production is dangerous.

The details of Chinese production of fireworks are not pretty. The heart of the industry in China is in the Hunan province. Most of the workers are rural women. 

"The bulk of China’s estimated $4 billion fireworks industry is centered in the southern Chinese province of Hunan in and around Liling, a mountainous rural county not far from the provincial capital of Changsha. China invented fireworks, and local lore has it that the Hunanese have been making them for centuries. Many of the factories in and around Liuyang and Liling claim to use formulas handed down through generations."

How Fireworks are made in China

Here in China one can find firecrackers several times more powerful than the legendary M-80 or Cherry Bomb 

It wasn't until the opening of China, with Nixon's visit in 1972, that the Chinese fireworks industry would see a serious revival and a transfer of accumulated Western know-how back to China to become a fireworks powerhouse.

http://amazpix.blogspot.com/2010/12/how-fireworks-are-made.html

As Liu Zhourong, president of Changsha MeiTai Fireworks explains to me, about 60% of the region's population is involved in the fireworks industry. While I look out the window at his Mercedes-Benz, I realize that there really must be gold in pyrotechnics.

"Fireworks are the easiest way to get rich in Liuyang," boasts the general manager, surnamed Xu, at nearby Sunrise Fireworks.

Now that Liuyang has reclaimed its birthright, save for very specialized applications like stage fireworks, there is virtually no firework manufacturing left in the United States.

One of the key safety methods employed is to have flammable chemicals stored and mixed in small bunker-like buildings built into hillsides that only house one worker at a time.

"It is not so much that they're not interested in worker safety, as much as it is tradition and resistance to change; keeping costs down and production up," says Weeth.

Death factories making fireworks with children's toil

https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/india-today-investigation-diwali-firecrackers-children-work-illegal-factories-347409-2016-10-19

Most of their workforce was found to be of children, adolescents and women. Fireworks makers seemed least bothered about licensing conditions.

How Military Training Device Became a Popular Illegal

Firework in LA

The military decommissioned it in the 1980s because it was too dangerous. Lit by a match, they caused too many serious injuries to soldiers’ hands. A military M-80, “You’re looking at above 150-decibel range level. I think 140 decibels is permanent hearing damage,”

The M-80 type devices are not considered fireworks; are classified as illegal explosive devices and are banned in all 50 states, YET, they are widely available on the street in Hawaii and California, as well as far more powerful China made explosives that could kill many people and destroy homes and stores.

https://spectrumnews1.com/ca/la-west/public-safety/2020/06/11/m-80-firework-started-as-military-device

Never mind that SoCal fireworks businesses have been closed due to COVID-19, or that California is a so-called "safe and sane" state that hasn’t allowed these things for decades. Angelinos are still getting their hands on them and firing them off at the least opportune times, terrorizing parents as they attempt to settle their children and dogs who cower and run.

But how did this even start?

The ever popular M-80 and larger bombs

The specific salute known as an M-80 Explosion Detonation Simulator was first referenced in a 1956 military technical manual “for simulations of booby traps, grenades and other explosions in training.” It was used to prep troops for the Korean and Vietnam wars.

Salutes are still used in military training today to simulate IEDs, air burst artillery, hand grenades, booby traps, tank gun fire, and other instruments of war, but not the M-80. The military decommissioned it in the 1980s because it was too dangerous. Lit by a match, they caused too many serious injuries to soldiers’ hands. But today, the name lives on as shorthand for any obnoxiously loud firework, having been co-opted by fireworks manufacturers capitalizing on its legendary status.

A military M-80, “You’re looking at above 150-decibel range level. I think 140 decibels is permanent hearing damage,” Wejsa said. “If this thing goes off and you're not ready for it, you might have to change your shorts.”

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission banned actual M-80s in 1966 because they were too dangerous for use by the public. And it continues to ban “fireworks devices that are intended to produce audible effects if the audible effect is produced by a charge of more than 130 milligrams of pyrotechnic composition.”

To determine “intent to produce an audible effect,” the CPSC does field tests, listening to the types of sounds fireworks make, rather than a specific sound level, to determine their compliance. A lot of them do not comply. Field tests of 2,548 fireworks between 2005 and 2014 found that 20% used more pyrotechnics than the CPSC audible effect limit.

M-80 type devices are not considered fireworks; they are classified as illegal explosive devices and are banned in all 50 states. Their construction remains unregulated, and they contain far higher amounts of explosive powders than what is legally allowed in a consumer firework.

When it comes to consumer fireworks that are not considered safe and sane in California, "A very high percentage comes from Nevada because that's the closest source for somebody to travel out of state and illegally smuggle them into California," he said.

Other sources include illegal consumer fireworks commercially made to look like M-80 type devices, homemade M-80s sourced with products easily found online, as well as illegal consumer fireworks and M-80 type devices smuggled and sold to fund organized crime elements, Gougé said.

Gangs are both making M-80 type devices and selling illegally smuggled fireworks that, in California, can be sold with a 200 to 300% markup.

Bringing illegal fireworks to Las Vegas could come with consequences

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k66XAaFVAhg

Buyers are given a fireworks “permit” and told they can fire them off legally at a 22 acre former fairgrounds site, but the vast majority of fireworks buyers pack them into cars, vans, trucks, U-Hauls and head to cities where all the fireworks are illegal, including Hawaii.

Buy Illegal Fireworks Legally in Pahrump, Nevada

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqplwcF-DmU

Illegal fireworks part of illegal drugs and firearms smuggling

Authorities with a search warrant Tuesday found methamphetamine in the home of a man arrested with four others on suspicion of felony possession of 4,000 pounds of Nevada-purchased fireworks.  Revell says that illegal fireworks come into the United States primarily through four Western ports— Oakland, Long Beach, Los Angeles, and Seattle.

“There are warehouses filled with fireworks that exist solely because

it is close to the California border,” 

The state-approved fireworks industry and the U.S. Department of Transportation have long argued with the state that there are operations picking up product that is illegal in California (such as fireworks) to seemingly be transported to a state where that product is legal.

"Instead, these products are drop-shipped to locations here in California," Revell said. "In recent years, there have been major seizures of illegal fireworks, particularly in Southern California warehouses, that have ranged from 15 to 25 tons each which were drop-shipments from one of the two Southern California ports."

This is nothing new either, but rather the culmination of years of somewhat lax enforcement.

Public can easily obtain any size of explosives

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwi-QiHQtMA

"For the better part of the last two decades, there has been no border integrity or inspections for illegal fireworks like there used to be," Revell said. "As a result, there are both hordes of individual criminal entrepreneurs as well large commercial operations smuggling these dangerous illegal fireworks into this state without fear of being caught or suffering any criminal consequences."

According to Revell, one such operation "openly brags" about its success, claiming to make "somewhere in the neighborhood of $5 million each year from illegal fireworks sales in Los Angeles County alone.”

According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), more than twice as many fires are reported on the Fourth of July than on any other day of the year in the United States.

Nearly 90% of emergency room fireworks injuries involve "Safe and Sane" fireworks that were used incorrectly.

Hawaii Police Call For Cutting Off Supply Of Illegal Fireworks At Harbors

https://www.hawaiipublicradio.org/post/hawaii-police-call-cutting-supply-illegal-fireworks-harbors#stream/0

It’s been 20 years since Hawaii banned aerial fireworks, yet the illegal pyrotechnics can still be seen and heard around the state, especially during New Year’s Eve and even on Lunar New Year, which is being celebrated this year on Saturday.

Nine years ago, a state task force on illegal fireworks recommended ways to stop the import and use of prohibited pyrotechnics. However, a new report from the Hawaii Legislative Reference Bureau revealed that many of the recommendations from the task force have not been adopted.

The lack of strong policies has affected county police who say enforcement of existing laws alone is not enough to curb use of illegal fireworks -- and sometimes it's not worth the effort they say.

According to the reference bureau report, Hawaii County has not prosecuted any illegal fireworks cases since 2005. Hawaii County Police Patrol Captain Kenneth Quiocho explained that, because many aspects of the laws are difficult to prove, fireworks cases don’t get prosecuted.

“For a fireworks violation, it just seems like the resources could be better spent if we stopped the supply from coming in and then used enforcement as a way to supplement attempts to try to stop the activity from taking place,” Quiocho said.

Other counties in the state have not had much more success either in stopping violations. Both Kauai and Maui have prosecuted fewer than 10 cases each over the last five years.

Kauai Assistant Police Chief Bryson Ponce said it feels as though all of the pressure to stop illegal fireworks activity falls solely on law enforcement.

“Law enforcement is the only one that's being really tasked to observe it, enforce it, issue the citations, testify to it, write the report,” he said. “You need the whole department to be able to sit in a residential area just to be able to catch a small amount of people doing it. It's a big task to do with limited amount of manpower.”

The Honolulu Police Department did not provide the total number of cases that have been prosecuted, according to the LRB report, but noted the department is currently investigating three fireworks-related incidents.

A new state law went into effect in July holds property owners liable for illegal aerials set off on their property. It allows photographs and video to be used to establish probable cause, but Maui, Kauai and Hawaii county police did not think that it would help law enforcement efforts.

“The current law only deals with the symptoms of the issue,” said John Sang, a spokesman with the Maui Police Department. “It is unreasonable to expect county law enforcement agencies to be effective with this reality.  [The new law] only pits ‘neighbor against neighbor.’ In a culture where everyone desires to get along with their neighbors, only people with bad blood will report their neighbors.”

Kauai, Maui and Hawaii police agreed that if the volume of illegal fireworks decreased, law enforcement would be more effective at catching violators since they could concentrate on fewer cases.

Honolulu Police Department declined to comment for this story.

The LRB report and a 2011 report produced by the task force suggested legislation to allow more cargo inspections of ocean shipments could curb illegal fireworks. But the departments that would be charged with the inspections have resisted the idea.

During the 2019 legislative session, Kaneohe Rep. Scott Matayoshi introduced a resolution that would have called on several government entities to inspect shipping containers originating from outside the state.

“My main concern is that illegal fireworks are the literal tip of the iceberg. They were the visible portion of all of the illegal goods coming in,” Matayoshi said. “I had noticed, and other people had noticed, an uptick in illegal fireworks, which I took to mean that the iceberg was getting bigger and bigger -- not just with fireworks, but with drugs, with everything else being smuggled into our islands."

"To me, the harbors were a natural choke point.”

The only state agency that currently inspects domestic cargo shipments is the Hawaii Department of Agriculture, but it only checks for invasive species and other organic materials. The department explained that it is not equipped to handle explosives such as illegal fireworks.

Other agencies -- the state Department of Transportation and Department of Public Safety -- named in Matayoshi’s bill said it would not be feasible to conduct inspections since thousands of shipping containers come into Hawaii. The 2011 task force report estimated about 200,000 containers enter the state each year.

Matayoshi said after holding several meetings and onsite visits at the harbors, he doesn’t disagree with the agencies’ arguments for being unable to do more inspections. However, he thinks the problem still needs to be addressed.

He plans to introduce a new measure that would check legal fireworks at its point of delivery because he’s heard that the illegal ones are smuggled in with legal fireworks.

He noted that his new proposal would not address his concern about drugs and other items that may be smuggled into state.

“We have the opportunity to scan just about every good coming in, if we could do it without significantly impacting the shipping containers and the goods coming into Hawaii to consumers,” he said. “If there is anyone out there who knows of technology that might be available that would serve the purpose of helping to better scan the shipping containers coming into Hawaii, then I’m all ears.”

NEVER IMPLIMENTED: Plan would use dogs to detect illegal Hawaii fireworks

Experts said they suspect most illegal fireworks reach 
the islands through domestic containers.


https://www.staradvertiser.com/2011/01/13/hawaii-news/plan-would-use-dogs-to-detect-illegal-fireworks/

A state task force formed to address the importation of illegal fireworks has recommended a cargo inspection program using explosives-sniffing dogs.

Maritime shippers conduct random checks on less than 5 percent of incoming domestic containers, and do not look for explosives, Espero said. Instead, they check to ensure only that the sender is being charged properly.

"Of the 200,000 containers that are coming in from our domestic ports today, 0 percent are inspected for explosives," Espero said. "The big gaping hole is the domestic containers."

Espero is looking at Homeland Security grants for the program and is also working on legislation to give the state Department of Transportation and the state Department of Defense the authority to conduct cargo inspections.

Police Departments Are Using Gunshot-Tracking Technology To Pinpoint Fireworks

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/carolinehaskins1/police-surveillance-shotspotter-fireworks

In more than 100 cities around the United States, audio detectors sitting on streetlamps and on the tops of buildings are listening for gunshots. The company selling these devices, ShotSpotter, claims it is the “first step to all of the subsequent gun crime reduction strategies,” according to its pitch documents.

But ShotSpotter audio detectors are also capturing and logging the sounds of fireworks. The data is kept as long as the city has a relationship with ShotSpotter. In cities like Richmond, California, the police are using ShotSpotter to go after people selling and setting off illegal fireworks.

5 Solutions to Help Officers Keep Their Distance

https://www.vikendetection.com/news/officercom-product-news-5-solutions-help-officers-keep-their-distance

The Osprey-UVX under vehicle x-ray inspection system from Viken Detection, in conjunction with Viken’s handheld imagers, provides law enforcement with a comprehensive, practical, affordable and safe non-intrusive inspection (NII) solution for high-throughput vehicle scanning at border, critical infrastructure and other security and military checkpoints.

The Osprey-UVX is a fixed “in-the-ground” system that provides real-time undercarriage and lower vehicle imaging for security officers. Passengers can safely stay in the vehicle while under vehicle images are created using Viken’s X-ray imaging technology. Both a passenger and commercial versions are available, and mobile configurations are in the works.

Honolulu man charged with fireworks smuggling in ICE, ATF probe. However he was found not guilty in a federal trial.

https://www.staradvertiser.com/2012/09/05/breaking-news/man-acquitted-of-importing-fireworks-linked-to-waikele-blast/

A federal court jury of seven women and five men found Gifford Koon Fo Chang, 45, not guilty of charges of smuggling, importing explosive materials without a license, and attempting to import explosives by falsifying statements.

https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/honolulu-man-charged-fireworks-smuggling-ice-atf-probe

HONOLULU - Federal agents executed two search warrants here Friday morning and arrested a local man in connection with an ongoing fireworks smuggling investigation tied to a deadly explosion in a storage bunker earlier this month in Waikele Gulch.

Gifford Chang, 44, of Honolulu, was taken into custody by special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Chang is charged in a federal criminal complaint filed Friday with smuggling goods into the United States; making false statements to illegally bring goods into the country; and importing explosive material without a license, all occurring in Dec. 2009.

Florence T. Nakakuni, U.S. Attorney for the District of Hawaii, said that according to the affidavit filed with the complaint, Chang was the registered agent for Tiger Corporation, the listed importer of four groups of cartons in a shipping container which were determined to contain 1.3G type "commercial fireworks." Chang and Tiger Corporation were licensed to import "consumer grade" fireworks (1.4G type), but neither had the requisite license to import 1.3G type fireworks.

The affidavit further related that as part of the investigation HSI seized these fireworks, which were, except for some samples, destroyed in an explosion at a Waikele Gulch storage bunker April 8.

Chang's arrest is the latest development in an ongoing joint investigation by ICE HSI and ATF into the illegal importation of fireworks into Hawaii. The investigation began in Dec. 2009 after officers with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) discovered the fireworks in a shipping container arriving in Honolulu from Shanghai, China.

"This month's deadly explosion was a tragic reminder about the profound dangers of illegally imported fireworks," said Wayne Wills, special agent in charge for ICE HSI in Honolulu. "Unfortunately, we're seeing a growing volume of illegal fireworks being smuggled into Hawaii. Given the public safety risks, targeting those involved in these activities is a top priority for HSI and its law enforcement partners."

The huge explosion in Beirut in 2020 was detonated with nearby stored fireworks

Hearing more pre-Fourth fireworks than usual? You’re not imagining it

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-06-23/fourth-of-july-illegal-fireworks-steve-lopez

Eastsider LA reported massive increases in complaints about fireworks this year. But it’s not just that part of town that’s affected, nor is it just Los Angeles.

New York City got 80 times the number of illegal fireworks complaints in the first half of June as it received for the same period a year ago.

It could be that in California, where anything but low-grade safe and sane fireworks are illegal, people with jobs on hold have time to drive to other states or Mexico and smuggle back explosives. Or they may be purchasing materials online and constructing their own incendiary devices.

In California, busts have been made up and down the state, with Irwindale police confiscating 2,000 pounds of illegal fireworks last week. But this is definitely a game of whack-a-mole, and the moles are winning.

“It’s so loud, it really does sound like bombs,” said Vovas. “It’s relentless. Yesterday was Sunday, and they were starting to go off at 5:30 or 6 p.m.”


MORE BOMB AND EXPLOSION NEWS


Former Naval Ammunition Depot Waikele – The Place Where All The Nukes Were Stored and Hawaii Most Deadly Fireworks Explosion

https://pearl-harbor-blast-zone.blogspot.com/2020/10/naval-ammunition-depot-waikele.html


Fireworks factory explosion caught on camera in Colombia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuN4xirvhHY

Raw video of Mexico fireworks explosion

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX2AGo8-1KI

Caught On Camera: Explosions Rock Fireworks Factory In Northwest Turkey

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmgELXp64PM

Six injured in fireworks factory blast in southwest China

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iP5iRV_Fa4

Biggest Firework explosion ever! Top7 horrible fireworks Accidents

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gL0E6M48cp0


What A Nuclear Missile Attack On Hawaii Would Look Like

https://pearl-harbor-blast-zone.blogspot.com/2020/10/what-nuclear-missile-attack-on-hawaii.html

Army to Spend Over $1 Billion on New Missiles, Marines In Hawaii Prepare For High Tech Missile War

https://pearl-harbor-blast-zone.blogspot.com/2020/10/pearl-harbor-blast-zone-us-army-to.html

Major Expansion of Pearl Harbor West Loch Ammunition Depot

https://pearl-harbor-blast-zone.blogspot.com/2020/10/pearl-harbor-blast-zone-major-expansion.html




The vast majority of illegal Hawaii fireworks come in shipping containers. The money goes to Chinese Communist Party

  Compiled by Ewa Historian John Bond The vast majority of illegal Hawaii fireworks come in shipping containers. The money goes to Chinese C...