Slate - More than 700,000 ultra-thin condoms disappeared on their way from Malaysia to Japan last week. When the freighter arrived in Japan, the condom containers were empty, and the locks had been changed. Cargo theft is relatively common in Malaysia, but why would anyone steal that many condoms? How much might the thieves get for them? A few thousand dollars, if they're really lucky. Although the stolen ultra-thin condoms would have retailed for $1.5 million, the thief will have a hard time getting that kind of cash in a black market transaction. The going wholesale rate for condoms in Asia is just a few cents per unit, and that's among legitimate businessmen. People who buy condoms on the black market are accustomed to getting them for much less. Counterfeiters have been known to sell a couple hundred untested condoms in brand-name packaging for a dollar, and the knockoffs have popped up in shops all over the world.
Honestly, I would have never thought this was a problem. I mean who are the asshole store keepers buying thousands of condoms from some shady individual in a trench coat? These guys get it in too, right? Us men have to stick together here on this issue. No one wants to hook-up with a cheap knock off condom only to end up on an upcoming Paternity Test Special on Maury. Like toilet paper, there are just somethings you can't skimp and get away with.
And apparently America no longer manufactures condoms, they're basically all shipped in from seedy plants in Thailand from what I'm getting out of this article. Say what you want about our dependence on foreign oil, but I think this may be an even bigger threat to our national security. Look at China, they presumably import their condoms from Thailand and look how big their population is. That's no accident, just a shit load of counterfeit condoms. In the US people are already getting pregnant left and right in the "hood" just for free food stamps and welfare checks. Do we really need to add to the national deficit by risking these people coming across faulty, counterfeit condoms (assuming they know where to buy a condom in the first place)?
This has financial terrorism disaster written all over it.
