Federal Agents Seize 165,000 Illicit Vaping Products in Minneapolis-St. Paul

Oct 04, 2025 - 09:52

Updated: 7 months ago

Federal Agents Seize 165,000 Illicit Vaping Products in Minneapolis-St. Paul

Customs agents in Minneapolis-St. Paul recently seized pallets of 165,000 e-cigarettes and refill cartridges shipped from China, saying the illicit vaping products were “adulterated and misbranded.”

Alerted by information from the Chicago field office, the Minnesota authorities confiscated 90,000 electronic nicotine delivery systems and 75,000 refill cartridges for violating the Food and Drug Administration’s Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced on Sept. 29.

The agency said the Chinese shipment of the illicit products was bound for a wholesaler in California.

CBP determined the retail value of the seized products to be over $1.47 million.

The unauthorized vaping products came in different flavors, including Blue Razz, Iced Lush, Blue Lightning, Gum Mint, Turkish Tobacco, and Classic Tobacco, according to the agency.

The seized items “could potentially harm the health and wellbeing of people within our communities,” said LaFonda Sutton-Burke, director of field operations for the Chicago field office, in a statement.

“U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s trade enforcement mission places a significant emphasis on intercepting illicit products, and we will continue to work with our consumer product safety partners to identify and seize unsafe and illicit goods,” she said.

In 2024, China exported over 26 billion yuan ($3.6 billion) worth of vapes to the United States, according to Chinese customs data. However, U.S. customs data reported only $333 million in officially recorded vape imports from China during the same period.

In a Sept. 25 commentary in The Epoch Times, James Gorrie, author of “The China Crisis,” wrote that many disposable vaping devices popular among young people are cheaply manufactured and easily modified—with slight changes to shape, flavor labeling, or packaging—allowing them to evade import controls.

Mass exports of other Chinese products “have established logistics and supplier networks that can also facilitate the movement of vaping hardware and related liquids into U.S. markets,” he explained.

Gorrie also warned that vaping is toxic to young people’s lungs and brains.

“The myth that vaping is less harmful than smoking cigarettes is just that—a myth and a lie,” Gorrie wrote. Referencing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, he added that “the aerosol that young people inhale through vaping isn’t harmless water vapor, but rather, is a cocktail of dangerous chemicals.”

On Sept. 10, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that authorities had seized 4.7 million e-cigarettes—nearly all of which originated from China—with an estimated retail value of $86.5 million, following a joint federal operation in Chicago.

Commenting on the operation at a Sept. 10 press conference in Chicago, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. said, “The Chinese are getting richer while our children get sicker, and we’re putting an end to that.”

“There is a new sheriff in town. Her name is [Attorney General] Pam Bondi, and we are going to target these Chinese vapes and stop them from poisoning our children,” he said.

On Sept. 22, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced it had seized over 2.3 million vape devices and cartridges, following a week-long enforcement action called Operation Vape Trail. The operation involved the DEA’s 23 domestic field divisions and seven foreign regions.

Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.), who serves on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, took to X on Sept. 29 to say Operation Vape Trail “is keeping these black market products out of children’s hands & cutting off criminal supply chains before they destroy our communities.”

“China is flooding our neighborhoods with illegal and dangerous vape products—putting our kids at risk,” Budd said.

On Sept. 25, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that federal authorities had seized over 2.1 million illicit vaping products from five distributors and six retailers across seven states—Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, and North Carolina.

The DOJ also filed civil injunctive actions to prevent future sales against the distributors and retailers.

“This is a national security issue,” Bondi said in a statement at the time. “These dangerous and unauthorized vapes are often smuggled in from China to be sold near schools and military bases, putting our kids and service members directly at risk.”

Reuters contributed to this report.