Vapes with an estimated street value of £14,000 have been seized by Trading Standards in Walsall following a number of covert operations.
Part of the £14k illegal vape haul
Hundreds of branded vapes, including GEEK Bar Pro, Super Stix and Elf were uncovered with some of them containing five times the amount of nicotine that is currently legal.
Vapes are currently unregulated in the UK, but the strength and size of e-liquids have been limited by the European Union Tobacco Product Directive (EUTPD).
Councillor Garry Perry, Deputy Leader of Walsall Council with a portfolio for regulatory services said:
“Looking at this recent haul of seized vapes, I’m very pleased these products have been ‘vaporised’ from our streets. Well done Trading Standards. The sale of these super strength pens and vapes is widespread in a range of businesses – not just in Walsall, but across the whole country. The council is very concerned to see products like these ‘normalised’ in different settings. In some cases, they have even turned up in fish and chip shops. This may also give a false sense of security to those buying them and will mask the danger.
“Illegal vapes pose a real hazard to children and young people, hooking them into a dangerous nicotine habit. Parents’ have rightly voiced their concerns to us – not only about the scarily high levels of nicotine but because they are cynically marketed to youngsters and disguised with fruit flavours to lure them in.”
“They do not belong in any store, but in the incinerator – and that is exactly where we will take them if we find that any shop trader is selling them here in Walsall. The council will continue to take a zero tolerance approach to the production and sale of illegal vapes, illicit tobacco AND use every enforcement action there is to shut it down.”