Chinese who enter the U.S. with Chinese patent medicine need to be careful. If not, the Chinese patent medicine might be confiscated as drugs, and the people who bring the medicine might be not allowed to enter the U.S. or might be sent to jail.

Mr. Wu from Zhe Jiang, China and his daughter, 12, helped Ms. Yu from Los Angeles bring 16 bottles of compound liquorice tablets to the U.S. When Wu entered L.A.'s international airport, he and his daughter were arrested by customs were ordered them not to enter the U.S. in the next five years.

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Ms. Yu said that her daughter needs to eat the compound liquorice tablets for a long time due to her illness. She has asked other friends to bring the medicine for her for many times, and there have not been a matter at all. However, Wu entered the U.S. with Philippine Airlines; every passenger needed to be checked. The 16 bottles, total 1600 pieces, of liquorice tablets brought by Wu were confiscated. He was caught with handcuffs and was sent to jail. Wu was very scared. When Ms. Yu and her lawyer got to the airport, police stopped them from meeting and talking. Wu and his daughter were judged as forbidding entering the U.S. in next five years and were sent back to China directly.

Yu said that the pills should be fine to use because those were prescription medicine prescribed by her doctor. However, the FDA examination report sent by custom shows that the compound liquorice tablets has cocaine, prohibited goods, in components, so the medicine needed to be sent back to China or be destroyed. She considers the punishment of forbidding entering the U.S. in five years is severe, so she is searching ways to reduce the punishment.

The U.S. custom and CBP express that the medicine produced in foreign countries is not all passed the FDA examination, so the medicine might not be brought to the U.S. If the tourists need to eat the medicine during the trip, the medicine they bring need to be used for the trip only. No matter what medicine the tourists bring, the tourists need to report the medicine to the custom before entering the U.S.