A few hours before local youths rushed to the streets to celebrate Halloween on Thursday night, Ho Chi Minh City market watchdogs raided stores and returned with a heavy catch of illicit toys and costumes.

Some 500 products including contraband and banned toys were confiscated.

The products range from ornaments like jack-o'-lanterns, masks, and wallpaper with photos of bats and crows to scarier items like dresses painted with fake blood, skulls, and zombie limbs.

A market management team seized hundreds of masks, guns, swords and camouflage outfits from two stores on Hai Thuong Lan Ong Street in District 5.

Another team raided three toy shops on Nguyen Tri Phuong Street and discovered some 400 smuggled products there.

Most of the confiscated products are from China and lack information regarding their material and quality, as well as any necessary warnings.

It is not known what the masks and costumes are made from, but health experts warn they can cause skin allergies.

Violent and potentially dangerous toys are prohibited from circulation in Vietnam.