U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers in Minneapolis-St. Paul have seized shipments containing 165,000 illicit vaping products that originated from China and were headed to a wholesaler in California. The confiscated items included 90,000 Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) and 75,000 refill cartridges.
The seizures followed intelligence shared by the Chicago Field Office, which led local officers to inspect the pallets. According to CBP and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) personnel, the products violated the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act due to a lack of required FDA marketing authorization. The tobacco products were also found to be adulterated and misbranded.
The shipments contained unauthorized flavors such as Blue Razz, Iced Lush, Blue Lightning, Gum Mint, Turkish Tobacco, and Classic Tobacco. The estimated manufacturer’s suggested retail price for these goods was over $1.47 million.
LaFonda D. Sutton-Burke, Director of Field Operations at the Chicago Field Office
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LaFonda D. Sutton-Burke, Director of Field Operations at the Chicago Field Office, stated: “The excellent intelligence sharing helped our officers identify and intercept these shipments that could potentially harm the health and wellbeing of people within our communities. U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s trade enforcement mission places a significant emphasis on intercepting illicit products, and we will continue to work with our consumer product safety partners to identify and seize unsafe and illicit goods.”
This seizure comes after recent enforcement actions in other regions. Earlier this month, Chicago CBP reported an operation that resulted in the seizure of nearly 4.7 million e-cigarettes valued at more than $86.5 million. In addition, last week the Justice Department along with the FDA announced actions targeting unauthorized flavored e-cigarettes that led to the confiscation of more than 2.1 million illicit vaping products from distributors and retailers across seven states.
According to CBP officials, these e-cigarette shipments lacked mandatory premarket authorization orders from the FDA and therefore cannot be legally marketed or distributed in the United States.
CBP advises consumers importing goods through e-commerce platforms to ensure their purchases comply with all state and federal regulations regarding admissibility requirements.
