Seven Arrested for Illegal Online Sales of E-Cigarette Pods Worth RMB 3.7M

China News Service, Ordos, October 28 (Reporter Zhang Linhu) — Reporters learned on the 28th from the Public Security Bureau of Ejin Horo Banner, Ordos City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, that the bureau has cracked a case involving the illegal online sale of e-cigarette pods. Seven criminal suspects were arrested, and the case involved a value of RMB 3.7 million.

On August 2, 2019, police discovered during their work that a local resident surnamed Yang was suspected of purchasing and selling tobacco monopoly products online. The investigation found that starting in October 2018, Yang purchased a certain brand of foreign-made e-cigarette pods through the WeChat platform and several WeChat contacts, and then resold them online. The amount involved was enormous.

Local police then formed a special task force and, using Yang as the breakthrough point, gradually uncovered a criminal chain involving the overseas purchase, cross-border entry, operation, and sale of e-cigarette pods. The task force successively traveled to Hohhot, Hunchun, Hangzhou, and other locations to carry out arrests, ultimately successfully apprehending seven suspects.

The investigation showed that Yang communicated with upstream sellers through WeChat and paid for the e-cigarette pods via WeChat, Alipay, and bank transfers. The upstream sellers delivered the pods through courier logistics or passenger coach parcel services, after which Yang took orders through WeChat and sold them to downstream buyers by express delivery. According to statistics, the amount involved in the case totaled approximately RMB 3.7 million.

The case is currently under further investigation.