US Department of War sends letter to Canadian sex shop after X-rated items get sent to Navy base

A Canadian sex shop owner got quite the shock after discovering that she'd been sent not one, but two letters from the US Department of War.

Grace Bennett is the co-owner of Toronto-based sex shop Bonjibon, and a member of staff was going through the parcels that had been returned to them to find a Department of War letter inside of it that was issued on behalf of the Kingdom of Bahrain.

The business doesn't ship directly to Bahrain, so Grace believes that someone ordered the items somewhere they do ship before redirecting the package to a naval base in Bahrain, where US troops are located.

Sex toys are strictly prohibited in the extremely conservative country, and the letters from the Department of War allegedly said the items (a butt plug and bullet vibrator) pose as 'an immediate danger to life or limb, or an immediate and substantial danger to property'.

The items inside the boxes were identified using X-ray screening.

The team at Bonjibon were surprised to opened a returned parcel to find the letter inside (Getty Stock)

Part of the letter stated, per CTV News: "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."

"Please notify the sender that pornographic materials or devices are not allowed into the Kingdom of Bahrain," it added.

Speaking to the news outlet, Grace explained that when she opened the returns boxes, it was clear that the goods had been investigated before being put 'haphazardly' back in the parcel to send back to them in Canada.

"We ship quite frequently to military bases," she went on to say. "Not just American bases, but Canadian bases and bases in other countries as well. It's pretty normal for us."

Grace said they didn't know the toy's final destination (CP24)

Going on to recall how they came to find 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."

All in all, Grace and her team have found the whole thing hilarious, and she said they 'got a huge kick out of it'. The team liked it so much that they've actually framed the angry letter in their office.

UNILAD has contacted the Department of War and the Bahrain Ministry of Interior Customer Affairs for comment.