In a warehouse in Alhambra, California, the U.S. Marshals Service, acting on behalf of the FDA and Department of Justice, seized over 45,000 “unauthorised e-cigarettes.” The FDA predicts that the seized goods are valued at approximately $703,000.
According to an FDA press release, while the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FDA have collaborated in the past, this is the first time the DOJ has used the Marshals Service to assist in the seizure of vaping (or tobacco) items. Why armed law enforcement officials were required to seize vaping goods is unknown.
FDA Centre for Tobacco Products (CTP) Director Brian King stated, “FDA has made it very clear that we are committed to using the full scope of our enforcement tools—including seizures—to hold those who peddle unauthorised e-cigarettes accountable.
FDA focuses on “brands appealing to youth.”
Although the action took place after April 5, when the FDA filed a civil forfeiture case in the Central California U.S. District Court on behalf of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles, the date of the seizure is unknown.
The MDM Group, which operates under the name Eliquidstop.com, was the original objective of the FDA action against the vape distributor. However, during the search, the agencies learned that many companies might hold an ownership interest in the products that were confiscated. The other businesses with an interest in the seized goods have not been identified by the FDA.
In comparison to the previous FDA seizure that was made public, the quantity of products that were confiscated was comparatively minimal. Employees of the FDA and U.S. Customs and Border Protection made 1.4 million device seizures at Los Angeles International Airport in that activity, which is more than thirty times the number of devices that were taken from the Alhambra raid.
According to the FDA, the majority of the items found in the California warehouse were disposable vaporizers, with popular brands among young people like Puff Bar/Puff, Elf Bar/EB Design, Esco Bar, Kuz, Smok, and Pixi.
The FDA’s whack-a-mole battle over vapes ramps up
Only seven e-liquid-based vaping devices have received FDA approval (six are still on the market); these are all limited to tobacco flavours and are not well-liked by the millions of adult Americans who use e-cigarettes. Big tobacco firms manufacture every vaping product that has received FDA approval. Millions of premarket tobacco applications (PMTAs) have been denied by the agency, driving away a large number of businesses and compelling others to file federal court appeals of FDA marketing denial orders (MDOs). Since Brian King became the CTP director over two years ago, the FDA has approved no new vaping goods, no bottled e-liquid, and no product in a flavour other than tobacco.
The FDA has announced three rounds of warning letters (80 in total) and civil money penalties for 22 additional shops—all actions against sales of disposable vapes—since Vaping360 last reported on an enforcement action pertaining to vapes (civil money penalties assessed to 21 retailers in late January).
The FDA claims that since it started enforcing laws against vaping makers and retailers, it has filed more than 150 civil money penalty lawsuits and issued around 1,220 warning letters. In addition, it requested a permanent injunction to close six small vape shops in 2022 and one more the previous year.
The tobacco giants R.J. Reynolds and Altria Group, who have continued their own campaigns to eradicate disposable vapes and independent vape manufacturers and pass state PMTA registry laws that ban the competition’s products, have assisted the agency in kicking up its whack-a-mole war against disposables into high gear last year. The increased retail rivalry from “unauthorised” disposable vapes is the reason the tobacco businesses have lost ground in recent years.
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