In September 2024, a series of explosions involving pagers and walkie-talkies occurred in Lebanon. Among the exploded walkie-talkies, some bore the "ICOM" label of the Japanese company Aicom, stating "Made in Japan." The devices in question were identified as the ICOM V82 model walkie-talkies. Following the incidents, the Japanese company was quick to distance itself, with Aicom responding that the walkie-talkies in question were manufactured and exported to the Middle East and other regions between 2004 and October 2014, before being discontinued and no further shipments made. The walkie-talkies reported in the media lacked the company's laser holographic anti-counterfeiting labels, leading the company to state that "it cannot verify whether the product was shipped by our company."
It's noteworthy that Aicom's American subsidiary was equally eager to issue a statement, suggesting that the devices that exploded seemed to be counterfeit and not produced by Aicom. Aicom has a subsidiary in the US, and the company exports eighty percent of its radio communication products overseas, where they are used by military, police, and security companies around the world. This response from the American subsidiary indicates a high level of product knowledge, paralleling the haste shown by the White House to clear its name after the incident. It is reasonably speculated that this Japanese company, possibly having been given a green light by some Western countries, utilized pre-set backdoors in its supply chain to market its products in Western overseas markets.