‘Stop sending butt plugs to Bahrain’: Toronto sex store receives letters from U.S. Department of War

Not one but two letters were sent from the Pentagon to a Toronto-based sex toy store, found inside the boxes of returned adult items that had somehow made their way to a U.S naval base in Bahrain.

The letters were received over the span of about a month over the summer, Bonjibon co-founder Grace Bennett recalled, amusedly.

“We didn’t even know it (the product) was going to Bahrain until it came back to us months later, and it just kind of unraveled this whole … hilarious moment,” the 34-year-old said in an interview with CTV News Toronto.

The online sexual wellness store shipped worldwide when they first launched in 2019, but Bennett says they now mostly service Canada, the United States, South America, Europe and Asia due to various laws and regulations about what items can be imported to countries—including Bahrain.

Bonjibon also frequently ships to military bases and Bennett says she suspects the packages were likely forwarded to someone stationed in Bahrain, since her company does not ship there directly.

This past year has posed a particular challenge for Bennett’s business, thanks to the tariffs U.S. President Donald Trump imposed and the de minimis exemption being scrapped. So, because of that, Bennett says items were being held at the border or returned to Bonjibon’s warehouse on a near-daily basis.

On one of the days combing through returned parcels, Bennett’s warehouse manager noticed one of the boxes had obviously been opened with the sanitary seals broken, the contents placed back haphazardly inside, and a letter containing the U.S. Department of Defense seal in the upper left corner. The U.S. Department of Defense has since been renamed to the Department of War by Trump, after the commander-in-chief opined the former name was “woke.”

The letter was sent by the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command fleet logistics centre in Bahrain, an island neighbouring Qatar and Saudi Arabia on the Persian Gulf.

“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,” the letter, with the subject line ‘Adult item Identified during X-ray Mail Screening,’ reads in part.

“Please notify the sender that pornographic materials or devices are not allowed into the Kingdom of Bahrain.”

Bennett did not say what items were sent to the military members but noted how the letters were likely intended to be sent to them, as the U.S. department asked the buyer to inform Bonjibon to, in effect, “stop sending butt plugs to Bahrain.”

“We got a huge kick out of it,” Bennett said. “I mean, we don’t judge, we want everyone to order whatever they want and we want everyone to feel confident and start shopping for whatever they want. But, there is a juxtaposition of a military person in a foreign country ordering butt plugs and having no understanding that those items are illegal in the country that they’re in.”

The Pentagon declined to comment to CTV News Toronto’s repeated requests, saying they “don’t have anything to offer” on the topic.

Bennett questioned whether or not the American soldiers stationed in Bahrain have been directly notified on what they are allowed to order to the country.

“I don’t know why they’re sending me very cross letters saying, ‘Stop sending items that could cause bodily harm to this country,’” Bennett said. “This sounds like a you problem. The call was coming from inside the house.”

As per the U.S. Transportation Command’s instructions regarding prohibited items to Bahrain, however, pornographic material, including sex toys, handcuffs and nudity magazines, are in “strict violation” of Bahrain law.

CTV News Toronto contacted the Kingdom of Bahrain’s Ministry of Interior Customers Affairs for comment but did not receive a response.

Bennett says the customers are aware of the situation and have been reimbursed for the products they paid for.

“There’s many layers of hilarity to this that we can all just poke fun (at) and the situation is quite funny, while at the same time, I genuinely want everyone—I’m sad that they didn’t get their order,” Bennett said, with a laugh.

To memorialize what happened, Bennett says the two letters have been framed in their respective offices in Toronto and B.C., both mounted in iridescent, bedazzled frames.