The number of illegal vapes seized at the U.K. border quadrupled last year. Authorities confiscated more than 4.5 million vapes weighing nearly 10 tons over the past 12 months.
Figures released to the BBC show that Border Force seized just 4,430 vapes in 2021, rising to 988,064 in 2022 and 4,537,689 from January 2023 to October 2023.
Unlike legal vapes, illegal e-cigarettes are not registered with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and do not pass through quality control processes. In addition, health activists worry that retailers prepared to flout product rules may not be scrupulous about observing the ban on selling to under-18-year-olds.
A Home Office spokesperson said the government would “not tolerate the sale of illegal products and … harmful goods, such as illegal or counterfeit vapes.”