US Border Patrol Seized 2,000 OnePlus Buds Believing Them to Be 'Counterfeit Apple AirPods'

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers last month seized a shipment of OnePlus Buds earphones at JFK Airport apparently believing they were counterfeit Apple AirPods, reports The Verge.

CBP tweeted last night that its officers had "recently seized 2,000 counterfeit Apple AirPods from Hong Kong, valued at $398K had they been genuine."


The tweet also linked out to an official press release that praises CBP officers for "protecting the American public from various dangers on a daily basis," adding "the interceptions of these counterfeit earbuds is a direct reflection of the vigilance and commitment to mission success by our CBP officers daily."

Based on the accompanying photos, however, the seized products are actually legitimate OnePlus Buds, as clearly described on the earphones' boxing. Whether the 2,000 seized units were all OnePlus Buds isn't immediately clear, but given that the CBP tweeted "That's not an [Apple emoji]" in direct reference to the OnePlus boxes suggests this is all an embarrassing mistake.

In addition, and as noted by The Verge, the CBP's valuation suggests they have been mistaken for AirPods, because at $79 each, 2,000 OnePlus Buds would be worth $158,000, not $398,000. According to the CBP press release, which makes no mention of the OnePlus branding, the units originated from Hong Kong and were headed to Nevada, but were seized at JFK on August 31.

To be fair, the OnePlus Buds bear a strong resemblance to Apple's stick-like earphones, and there's no doubt that the market is awash with AirPods knockoffs. But OnePlus is a well-known brand, and there's no shortage of other legitimate brands that "pay homage" to the form factor and iconic aesthetic of Apple's AirPods with their own true wireless earphone offerings.

Whether the seizure was indeed the result of a cock-up or just poor communication on CBP's part, OnePlus has clearly seen the funny side: Its official USA Twitter account replied to the CBP tweet with "Hey, Give those back!" accompanied by an upside down smiley emoji.

Related Roundup: AirPods 4
Tag: OnePlus
Buyer's Guide: AirPods (Neutral)
Related Forum: AirPods

Popular Stories

iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon: New Features for Your iPhone and Release Date

Monday October 27, 2025 7:55 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. Below, we outline key details about iOS 26.1. Release Date Given that Apple has yet to seed an iOS 26.1 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, the...
maxresdefault

Apple TV 4K Could Still Launch Before 2025 Ends: All the Rumored Features

Monday October 27, 2025 4:51 pm PDT by
Apple is designing an updated version of the Apple TV 4K, and rumors suggest that it could come out sometime in the next couple of months. We're not expecting a major overhaul with design changes, but even a simple chip upgrade will bring major improvements to Apple's set-top box. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've rounded up all the latest Apple TV rumors. ...
iOS 26 Maps Glass

Apple Reportedly Moving Ahead With Ads in Maps App

Sunday October 26, 2025 6:22 am PDT by
Apple Maps could feature integrated ads as soon as next year, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. In his latest "Power On" newsletter, Gurman said that Apple's plan to bring more ads to iOS is moving "gaining traction," with the Maps app being next in line. The project will apparently give restaurants and other businesses the option to pay to have their details featured more prominently in...
iOS 26

6 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.1

Wednesday October 29, 2025 4:22 am PDT by
Apple is about to drop iOS 26.1, the first major point release since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least six notable changes and improvements to look forward to. We've rounded them up below. Apple has already provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 26.1, which means Apple will likely roll out the update to all compatible...
iOS 26 Battery Glass Feature

iOS 26.1 Beta Liquid Glass Battery Drain Test: Tinted vs Clear Mode

Friday October 24, 2025 2:30 pm PDT by
In the fourth iOS 26.1 beta, Apple added a "Tinted" option that reduces the translucency of Liquid Glass for those who prefer a more opaque look. I saw some comments wondering whether the setting might preserve battery life, so I thought I'd do some testing. Test Settings I did four separate tests using the iPhone 17 Pro Max, and I kept the parameters as similar as possible. Here are the...
M6 MacBook Pro Feature 1

M6 MacBook Pro: Release Date, Pricing, and What to Expect

Monday October 27, 2025 9:15 am PDT by
Apple this month refreshed the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with its new M5 chip, and higher-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips are expected to follow in early 2026. However, these machines will represent the final update to the current design, with Apple reportedly developing a completely new version of the MacBook Pro packed with next-generation hardware...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS Tahoe 26.1 Release Candidates

Tuesday October 28, 2025 1:07 pm PDT by
Apple today provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1 updates for testing purposes. The RCs betas come a week after Apple released the fourth betas. The new betas can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software...
iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon With These 8 New Features for Your iPhone

Wednesday October 22, 2025 6:15 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. iOS 26.1 is currently in beta testing. The update will likely be released in the first half of November, and it is compatible with the iPhone 11 series and newer, but some...
swift for android

Developers Can Now Make Android Apps With Apple's Swift

Sunday October 26, 2025 4:23 am PDT by
The first preview release of the Swift SDK for Android was published this week, allowing developers to build Android apps in Swift with official tooling and making it easier to share code across iOS and Android. The SDK enables Android apps to be built in Swift using officially supported tooling rather than community workarounds. In June, it was announced that Apple's Swift programming...

Top Rated Comments

cmaier Avatar
67 months ago
So... they aren’t counterfeit AirPods?
Score: 28 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Moakesy Avatar
67 months ago

Another oddity spotted by The Verge is that if all 2,000 units were OnePlus Buds then the CBP's valuation of the shipment is inflated: At $79 each, 2,000 units would be worth $158,000, not $398,000.
Surely the valuation was based on them being official Apple products?
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Red Oak Avatar
67 months ago
I’m going to start MacRuumors.com. Same design. And I am simply going to lift and repost the same content posted here

I’m not stealing. I am “paying homage”
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
-DMN- Avatar
67 months ago
They must have Jon Prosser working Border Security...
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Hattig Avatar
67 months ago

So... they aren’t counterfeit AirPods?
Surely a key aspect to counterfeits is passing off as the product they are copying.

These clearly have no Apple logo on them, or Apple/Airpod branding of any sort.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
GeoSciGuy Avatar
67 months ago
They’re not wrong.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)