More than 5,000 illegal vapes seized from Swansea shops in Trading Standards raid

The action taken by Swansea Council’s Trading Standards Team in partnership with local police, was part of a two-day operation to tackle the sales of illegal vapes to minors in the city.

The Council enlisted the help of some underage volunteers to carry out nine purchases a different stores during the two days.

A number of the shops targeted in the operation sold vapes containing nicotine to the volunteers, who were all under the age of 18. This resulted in seven warrants being acted on, where more than 5,000 illegal vapes were seized. £15,000 in cash was also seized from the business premises and four arrests were made.

As well as the vapes being sold to underage children, the electronic vape pens also did not comply with current regulations or were registered with the MHRA. The pens contained the incorrect amount of liquid and 0% nicotine pens were found to contain nicotine.

David Hopkins, Cabinet Member for Corporate Services and Performance, said: “This latest operation has been very successful in disrupting some of the illegal sales that are being made to children in our city.

“Worryingly, we’ve confiscated a large number of vapes which were advertised as zero percent nicotine, but did actually contain nicotine. This is illegal and puts young people at risk of developing an addiction to nicotine.

“Our successful operation is, in part, down to information from the public, who have contacted us to raise concern about the continued sales of vapes to minors.

“I would urge the public to continue to get in touch with our Trading Standards Team if they have concerns about a shop making illegal sales in their community. We will continue to take action to protect young people in Swansea.”

(Lead image: Swansea Council)