More than £2.7m worth of illicit vapes have been seized and destroyed by Trading Standards officers from West Northamptonshire Council.
Acting upon information from Essex County Council Trading Standards that a consignment of non-compliant disposable vapes had been shipped to a warehouse in Northampton, the officers visited the site to confirm the intelligence. The vapes found had tank sizes larger than the current regulations.
West Northamptonshire Council’s in-house legal team informed Northampton Magistrates Court that compliant disposable vapes must contain no more than 2ml of liquid, however some of the devices inspected at the warehouse of Tongda Distribution Ltd contained up to 20ml of liquid - 10 times the legally permitted volume.
Following the discovery, the Council obtained a forfeiture and destruction Order from the Court, authorising Trading Standards Officers to destroy more than £2.7m worth of vapes from the warehouse and be compensated for the cost of the destruction.
Information provided by the owners of the warehouse, revealed that the goods had no UK-based owner and were imported to be sold onto UK-based sales and distribution agents.
“Tackling the sale of illegal vapes is a priority for the Council and I am pleased to hear of the outcome from today’s court proceedings enabling us to seize and destroy over £2,000,000 worth of illegal and unsafe vapes,” said Cllr David Smith, Cabinet Member of Community Safety, Engagement and Regulatory Services. “I am delighted that we have prevented the sale of these illegal, unsafe vapes – we remain committed to safeguarding our residents from the dangers of the illegal vape trade.”
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