Pentagon asks Canadian sex shop not to send goods to Bahrain.

According to ТСН: The Canadian sex shop Bonjibon from Toronto received two official letters from the U.S. Department of Defense asking them to stop sending adult products to Bahrain.

These documents were discovered in boxes of returned orders. Store co-founder Grace Bennett noted that both letters arrived with an interval of about a month during the summer.

“We didn't even know that the product was shipped to Bahrain until it came back to us a few months later, and it just revealed this... funny situation,” said 34-year-old Bennett in an interview.

The online store, which specializes in sexual health products, has been shipping orders worldwide since its launch in 2019. However, due to various laws and restrictions on the import of intimate products, the company eventually narrowed its delivery geography.

According to Bennett, the store does not directly ship to Bahrain but often sends orders to military bases. So, it is likely that the packages were forwarded to military personnel stationed there.

Last year, the business faced additional difficulties due to U.S. customs restrictions implemented during Donald Trump's administration. This led to delays of orders at the border or their return.

At one time, a warehouse manager discovered a damaged box with broken hygiene seals. Inside was a letter bearing the seal of the U.S. Department of Defense, which at that time had changed its name to the “Department of War.”

The letter was sent from the logistics center of the U.S. Central Command Navy in Bahrain.

“During a security inspection by Bahrain Customs, pornographic materials and/or devices were found in the package addressed to you. This letter serves to inform you that your package has been returned to the sender,” states a document entitled “Detection of adult items during mail x-ray inspection.”

The letter also states:

“Pornographic materials or devices are prohibited from being imported into the territory of the Kingdom of Bahrain.”

Bennett did not specify what items were in the packages but suggested that these notices were addressed to the military.

“Essentially, we were asked to 'stop sending anal plugs to Bahrain',” she said with irony.

At the same time, Bennett emphasized a certain contradiction in the situation.

“We don’t judge - we want people to feel confident and order what they want. But there is a strange contradiction between a serviceman in a foreign country ordering such things and not knowing they are illegal there.”

The Pentagon declined to comment on the situation, stating that it has “nothing to say.”

According to the U.S. Transportation Command's guidelines, pornographic materials, including sex toys, handcuffs, and erotic magazines, are violations of Bahrain's laws.

All clients whose orders did not reach the addressees received refunds.

“There's a lot of humor in this story, and we can laugh about it. But at the same time, I genuinely feel sorry that people didn't get their orders,” Bennett added.

To commemorate the incident, both letters from the Pentagon have been framed and hung in the company offices in Toronto and British Columbia.

It is worth noting that recently the police spent three hours rescuing a sex toy.

This situation is an interesting and funny illustration of how international supplies can encounter cultural and legal barriers. Governments have their restrictions, which at times can lead to unexplained conflicts with businesses. It serves as a reminder of the necessity to carefully study legislation while engaging in international trade, especially in such a sensitive field as intimate products.