Toys depicting 9/11 plane attact pulled from candy bags......(ot)

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Toys depicting 9/11 plane attack pulled from candy bagsBy The Associated Press

(8/27/04 - MIAMI, FL) — Small toys showing an airplane flying into the World

Trade Center were packed inside more than 14,000 bags of candy and sent to small

groceries around the country before being recalled.

Lisy Corp., the wholesaler that distributed the candy, said Friday that the toys

were purchased in bulk from a Miami-based import company.

The toys came in an assortment purchased sight unseen from L & M Import in Miami

and included the toys depicting the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the twin towers,

whistles and other small toys, said Pedron, Lisy's national sales manager.

The invoice said the toy was a plastic swing set.

" I hate to blame the importer. He probably did not know what he was getting. He

brings them in 40-foot containers. But whoever made it knew exactly what they

were making, " Pedron said.

Pedron said Lisy did not notice the small plastic figurines until two people

complained, but there is no mistaking what the toys represent: At the bottom of

each is the product number 9011.

" When we found out what happened, we recalled them immediately, " said Pedron,

who said the toys do not reflect the company's view. " I was offended by them. "

The company's 100 distributors sent out the candy bags. Most are sold to small

Hispanic and Mexican groceries, Pedron said. He estimated about 90 percent of

the bags have been collected.

, who bought a bag of the candy for her grandson, said she was

stunned when she saw the toy.

" It makes me angry, " she told television station WFTV. " I was offended because I

couldn't believe that someone would give something like that to a kid. "

Pedron said he is saving the toys to return to the distributor. A woman who

answered the telephone at L & M and refused to give her name said Friday she did

not know anything about the toy.

(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press.

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