Key takeaways
- Mexican cartels are using vape trafficking to expand their reach: Cartels like Sinaloa and CJNG are smuggling illicit vape products into the U.S. alongside traditional narcotics to diversify revenue streams.
- Illicit vapes are targeting youth and evading detection: Unregulated devices disguised as candy or toys are showing up in stores near schools, exploiting gaps in border inspections and retail oversight.
- Law enforcement leaders are calling for a coordinated federal crackdown: Sheriffs nationwide are urging enhanced port screening, interagency collaboration and sustained funding to dismantle the illicit vape supply chain.
By Sheriff (Ret.) Currie Myers, PhD, MBA
Throughout my more than four decades in law enforcement — from street patrols to federal investigations — I’ve confronted every threat to public safety you can name: armed gangs, illicit narcotics, transnational cartels. Yet the stealth and reach of today’s illicit vape trade is just as concerning. These devices masquerade as innocent consumer products, slipping past regulators and landing in the hands of our children.
That’s why I applaud the National Sheriffs’ Association for taking a stand. Their recent resolution condemning the trafficking and sale of illicit vape products sends a powerful message: America’s sheriffs are not only aware of this threat but united in their readiness to dismantle it.
Make no mistake, this isn’t a debate over an adult’s right to choose a legal tobacco alternative. We’re witnessing a rapidly expanding black market — overwhelmingly fueled by overseas manufacturers, particularly in China — pushing unregulated, chemically altered vape devices into our neighborhoods, schools and playgrounds.
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And now, Mexican drug cartels have seized on this trend, employing their established smuggling routes and money-laundering networks to move these products into the United States. Groups like the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel are taking advantage of less-scrutinized cargo lanes, blending illicit vape shipments with their traditional drug loads to diversify revenue while evading law enforcement scrutiny.
Cartels push illicit vapes into the U.S.
Consider Louisiana’s recent Operation Vape Out. Over four weeks, the Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control, State Police, Homeland Security Investigations and local partners executed coordinated raids. The haul was staggering: ten arrests, more than $1 million in counterfeit products, and tens of thousands of dangerous items seized. Among them were 34,000 unregulated vape pens and pods, 16,000 CBD edibles and pre-rolled cigarettes, 6,500 canisters of nitrous oxide, and over 1,800 doses of Schedule I narcotics — including psilocybin and tianeptine, often sold as “gas station heroin.”
Even more alarming, these goods were being peddled in smoke shops only blocks from schools, wrapped in candy-flavored packaging designed to entice young buyers.
Louisiana is far from alone. From coast to coast, illicit vape shipments — carefully concealed in legitimate cargo — evade detection at our ports and highways. Some devices are so cleverly designed they resemble ordinary office supplies or children’s toys, making them all but invisible until it’s too late. Mexican cartels exploit every weakness in our border security, routing pallets of e-liquids and vaping devices through remote crossings and using bribery or intimidation to slip shipments past customs officers.
Sheriffs call for federal action on vape threat
This is not a random assortment of bad actors; it’s a sophisticated supply chain engineered to exploit every gap in our enforcement. If we hope to protect our communities, our response must be equally strategic and comprehensive.
First, we must strengthen collaboration across all levels of government. Local sheriffs and police cannot shoulder this burden alone. Customs and Border Protection must intensify inspections of inbound shipments, deploying advanced screening technology at both major and secondary ports of entry. The Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Homeland Security must prioritize illicit vape interdiction, sharing intelligence and resources with state and local partners. And Congress must allocate sustained funding for operations like Vape Out, transforming them from sporadic successes into the new baseline.
Second, we must recognize this as a national security concern. When foreign manufacturers and Mexican cartels flood our markets with addictive, unregulated substances — substances landing kids in emergency rooms and financing violent criminal networks — we are not merely confronting a public health issue; we are defending the very safety of our streets.
History offers a roadmap. We’ve faced synthetic drug surges before — from crack cocaine in the 1980s to meth in the 1990s and, more recently, fentanyl — and we’ve proven capable of decimating those pipelines. A decisive, unified federal response shut down those threats; it can do so again.
We cannot allow another generation of Americans to fall prey to this insidious market. The enemy’s supply lines do not run through distant deserts or jungle trails — they flow in shipping containers from overseas, through cartel-controlled corridors, and end up on store shelves disguised as innocuous vape products.
It’s time for a coordinated crackdown: tougher inspections at the ports, enhanced interagency enforcement, and accountability for every actor in this illicit network. Only then will we close the loopholes that enable this crisis and safeguard our communities from the next wave of deception.
Enough talk. It’s time to act.
About the author
Sheriff (Ret.) Currie Myers, PhD, MBA is an applied criminologist and criminal justice ethicist. He is a former Johnson County, Kansas sheriff, KBI special agent, DEA Task Force Agent and State Trooper.
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