Changxing Takes a Hard Line on the Sale of Disguised Illegal Vaping Devices

To thoroughly purify the market economy order, in recent days, the Changxing County Public Security Bureau has joined forces with the county's Tobacco Monopoly Bureau to carry out a special operation against illegal e-cigarettes<\/strong>. During the operation, the Changxing police and Tobacco Monopoly Bureau staff visited various e-cigarette specialty stores for inspections and dealt with multiple cases of illegal e-cigarette sales. <\/p>

According to the relevant provisions of the "E-cigarette Management Measures," the sale of flavored e-cigarettes other than tobacco flavor is prohibited. However, there are still flavored e-cigarettes on the market disguised as “milk tea cups” and “cola cups” continuing to be sold, and these unregulated products have a strong appeal to minors. <\/p>

Recently, a reporter followed the staff of the Changxing County Public Security Bureau and the Tobacco Monopoly Bureau to visit several offline e-cigarette specialty stores and some hidden illegal sales points. On that day, the law enforcement team, based on prior intelligence, went to the home of a suspect named Li and inquired whether he was illegally selling fruit-flavored e-cigarettes. Initially, Li attempted to argue, but police discovered a large number of fruit-flavored e-cigarettes awaiting shipment in one room. Additionally, various labels were posted on the wall categorizing different flavors of e-cigarettes. Besides “milk tea cups” and “cola cups,” there was also a cartoon character-shaped fruit-flavored e-cigarette, which is particularly appealing to minors. “These illegal flavored e-cigarettes often exist in the form of ‘milk tea cups,’ which are very misleading, and many are sold to minors,” said a relevant official from the county's Tobacco Monopoly Bureau. <\/p>

Li told the police that he started selling these types of e-cigarettes in October last year, mainly through some friends, including sales to minors. After preliminary verification, Li did not have the relevant business license, and the sales amount was significant, which has constituted illegal business operations. At the scene, police seized over 100 unregistered fruit-flavored e-cigarettes, and further investigation and evidence collection will be conducted on the case. <\/p>

Coincidentally, not long ago, Changxing police, based on a local tip-off about illegal e-cigarette sales, formed a special task force to go to Shenzhen, Hainan, Hangzhou, and other places, successfully dismantling a production and sales chain, destroying two sales points, arresting 11 suspects, and seizing over 200 boxes of various disposable e-cigarettes and non-tobacco flavored e-cigarettes, with a total value exceeding 10 million yuan. <\/p>

The police remind: The "E-cigarette Management Measures" officially implemented on May 1, 2022, stipulates that those engaged in the production and operation of e-cigarette products<\/strong>, atomized substances, and e-cigarette nicotine must obtain a tobacco monopoly production enterprise license; it clearly prohibits the sale of flavored e-cigarettes other than tobacco flavor and e-cigarettes that allow the addition of atomized substances; it prohibits the sale of e-cigarette products to minors and states that sales points for e-cigarette products must not be set up near schools. <\/p>