![“Many of these products were smuggled in from China, circumventing regulations. They often contain undisclosed or untested chemicals that fail to meet FDA safety standards. It’s clear [that] many of these products are being brought into America to target children, young adults, college students, and even members of our military.” -Attorney General Pamela Bondi. Image Justice Department website](https://texasborderbusiness.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Vape-Feds.jpg)
Texas Border Business
Texas Border Business
According to a press conference by Federal authorities, large-scale seizures of illicit vaping products were carried out after officials raised alarms about unregulated devices entering the United States. According to statements delivered by the Attorney General of the United States, Pam Bondi, the operation followed a meeting “late July” in which “Secretary Kennedy and Dr. Macari came to meet with me at the Department of Justice. They expressed concerns about the Chinese vapes here in our country.”
Bondi said many Americans mistakenly believed the products were legal. “They are not, and we’re going to tell you why.” She explained that “pursuant to search warrants issued by federal courts, US Marshals began seizing hundreds of thousands of units of illicit vaping products at locations across the United States, including here at Midwest Goods in this suburb of Chicago.”
She said, “many of these products were smuggled in from China,” adding that they “circumvent regulations” and “often contain undisclosed or untested chemicals, which failed to meet FDA safety standards.” According to her remarks, investigators also found that the devices “evade proper labeling and marketing regulations.”
Bondi warned that the products appear to be designed to appeal to young people and service members. “They’re targeting children, young adults, college students, and even members of our military,” she said. Many of the seized items were labeled with flavors such as “cotton candy, bubblegum, and fruit loops.” She said the products were being sold near schools and military bases and “are exposing our children and service members to serious health risk from untested chemicals.”
She pointed to reports from Florida involving teenagers hospitalized with lung conditions. “In Florida, we have reports of kids in high school and middle schools being taken to the hospital because of lung conditions due to this vaping.”
Bondi said the warehouse where she spoke was located “less than a mile and a half away from a high school, a middle school, and an elementary school, and also a military facility is very close by.” She urged parents to stay alert. Holding up seized products, she said, “Parents, talk to your children. These things were seized right here today. Watermelon ice, targeting a child, also has an American flag on it. Don’t let the American flag fool you. It’s Chinese.”
She stressed the devices’ nicotine content and potential contaminants. “These illegal and unregulated products are not safe. They contain extreme amounts of nicotine, which is why high school kids have had to go to the hospital. Toxic chemicals and metals are sometimes laced with THC.” She added that investigators were “seeing the equivalent of a full pack of cigarettes in a single vape pen,” saying, “One vape pen can equal 20 cigarettes.”
“These are what our teens, our college kids, and often young members of our military are using,” Bondi said, warning that the products bypass safety standards required for domestic manufacturers.
