Bondi and RFK Jr. surprise Chicago with massive VAPE raid busting illegal Chinese products designed to attract kids
Attorney General Pam Bondi and Health Secretary RFK Jr. declared war on Chinese vape smugglers Wednesday, celebrating a massive bust of illegal products in a Chicago area warehouse in Bensenville, Illinois.
Standing behind a large stash of illegal vape products with specially branded flavors like Watermelon Ice, Piña Colada, Strawberry Cream, Apple Peach Strawberry, and Fruit Monster, Bondi warned vape shops in America's cities to get them off their shelves.
'What we're doing right now is we're on the front end, if you have this stuff, get it off your shelves, because this is your final warning, we're coming after you,' she said. 'If you have it, get rid of it,' she said.
Bondi announced details of the multi-state raid on vape shops and retail shipment centers across the country.
Shortly prior to their arrival, the ATF, FDA and USMS executed seizures at 5 distributors and 6 retailers in North Carolina, Arizona, Illinois, New Jersey, Georgia and Florida.
Kennedy thanked the joint task force, blaming former President Joe Biden for slow-walking approvals of US based vapes, while China rapidly developed enticing vape products for the American market.
'Chinese products flooded the market and those products are now 9,000 brands of e-cigarettes being sold in this country, only 27 percent have FDA approval,' he said.
Illegal vape products have become a serious problem primarily because they evade U.S. regulatory oversight and pose significant public health risks. Banned domestically in China but widely manufactured for export, they are often labeled deceptively as toys or electronics to bypass customs inspections.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks while holding a vaping device as U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert Kennedy Jr.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks while U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert Kennedy Jr. looks on during a press conference in Bensonville, Ill.,
'This will not be tolerated any more, there's a new sheriff in town, her name is Pam Bondi,' Kennedy said.
Bondi and Kennedy traveled to the location of the vape retailer Midwest Goods in Bensenville, IL, where cases of illegal product were seized.
The investigation into five different distributors started in the month of August, as undercover shoppers purchased illegal vaping products, according to the Justice Department.
The Department of Justice filed civil enforcement actions against five distributers and nine retailers for selling the illegal vape devices, many of them smuggled in from China.
The Trump administration first leveled a nationwide ban on certain 'kid-friendly' flavors of single use or cartridge vaping devices that went into effect in 2020.
But single-use vape products, many of them from China, continue flooding the market as new vape shops continue popping up in cities and small towns alike.
Federal officials warn the devices are targeted at children, as many vape retailers are just a short distance from public schools.
The devices contain undisclosed and unregulated chemicals that could be harmful to kids, as they do not meet FDA safety standards.
Vaping companies continue to challenge the ban in court with mixed results.
In April, the Supreme Court sided with the FDA to uphold their restrictions on some flavored vapes.
In July, however, they ruled to make it easier for e-cigarette companies to sue the FDA for their decisions blocking their products from the market.
