A Canadian sex shop owner was in for a surprise after discovering that she had received not one, but two letters from the US Department of War.
Grace Bennett, co-owner of the Toronto-based sex shop Bonjibon, found out about the letters when a staff member was sorting through returned parcels and stumbled upon a letter from the Department of War, issued on behalf of the Kingdom of Bahrain.
The shop does not ship directly to Bahrain, leading Grace to suspect that someone ordered the items to a location where they do ship, and then redirected the package to a naval base in Bahrain, where US troops are stationed.
Bahrain, a very conservative country, strictly prohibits sex toys. The letters from the Department of War allegedly stated that the items (a butt plug and bullet vibrator) posed ‘an immediate danger to life or limb, or an immediate and substantial danger to property’ according to the letter.
X-ray screening was used to identify the items inside the packages.
According to CTV News, part of the letter read: “During security screening by Bahrain Customs, pornographic materials and or devices were identified in a package addressed to you. This letter is to notify you that your parcel was returned to the sender.”
The letter further advised: “Please notify the sender that pornographic materials or devices are not allowed into the Kingdom of Bahrain.”
Grace explained to the news outlet that upon opening the returned boxes, it was evident that the items had been examined and then carelessly repacked and sent back to Canada.
“We ship quite frequently to military bases,” she mentioned. “Not just American bases, but Canadian bases and bases in other countries as well. It’s pretty normal for us.”
Recalling how they discovered the letters, Grace said: “Our warehouse manager was going through parcels that had been sent back to us and she opened one and thought ‘this is different’ because the box had been obviously completely opened whereas the other ones were just return to sender.”
She continued: “There was a letter inside [of one of the returns] from the Department of Defense on behalf of the Kingdom of Bahrain. It was speaking specifically to whoever ordered from us, but then in the letter, it was still telling them to tell us to stop sending butt plugs to Bahrain.
“But they sent the letter to us… very confusing on the Department of Defense side of things.”
Overall, Grace and her team found the situation amusing, and she mentioned they ‘got a huge kick out of it’. They appreciated it so much that they’ve framed the letter in their office.
The Department of War and the Bahrain Ministry of Interior Customer Affairs have been contacted for comment.