In an exclusive interview with the Washington Reporter, Rep. Barry Moore (R., Ala.) warned that federal officials must do more to stem the flow of illicit vaping products coming from China that are linked to fentanyl poisoning and child deaths, including in Moore’s home state of Alabama.
Moore raised the issue to Attorney General Pam Bondi in a House Judiciary Committee hearing, praising the Trump administration for taking action. He also told the Reporter the Justice Department and the Department of Health and Human Services should continue to press enforcement and public warning efforts to keep illegal products out of American communities.
“We’ve got to do our part to warn the public,” Moore said, noting some vapes are laced with fentanyl, a deadly poison. He recounted two young men from his hometown who died after consuming products they believed were safe but were instead tainted with the drug.
The two deadly shipments, Moore said, “came in different packaging. One actually ordered something from China, and he thought it was safe and it killed him. And another thought that it might have been a Percocet or something…but it was laced with fentanyl. We lost far too many kids to fentanyl poisoning….We’ve had family, friends, two boys who went to school with my daughters that both passed away; they thought they were getting one thing, but they got something else.”
“These products still are just as deadly in a different form,” Moore said. “China is sending that in. We don’t need to let it come in in these vapes…And I think that’s the danger with these vapes. Kids are doing those and then they get laced with fentanyl. And certainly China’s not a friend of ours. And whatever we need to do to protect our kids, we need to do.”
Experts, lawmakers, and parents have raised similar alarms in recent months. A previous Reporter scoop detailed how Attorney General Pam Bondi told lawmakers illegal Chinese-made vaping products are being sold in the U.S., some tied to fentanyl risks and widely sold despite federal law. Another Reporter investigation examined how illicit vape distribution networks involve Chinese supply chains and Mexican cartel routes that are flooding U.S. markets and targeting America’s youth.
Senate Republicans, including Sens. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) and Steve Daines (R., Mont.), have also pressed the administration to treat illicit Chinese vape imports as both a public safety and national security threat.
Moore said lawmakers will continue tracking enforcement actions and pushing agencies for results that protect children and prevent further loss of life.
Washington Reporter:
One of the other things that you’re working on in your current job in the House of Representatives is the illicit vape trade coming from China. You just talked about this in a hearing. What more do you think that the Department of Justice and HHS should do to address this issue?
Rep. Barry Moore:
We have to continue to monitor it and make sure that it’s not coming in; we’ve certainly got to do our part to warn the public. Some of those are laced with fentanyl, and that is a deadly, deadly poison. I would like to see the AG just continue to press on that issue. We brought it to her attention, like I said in Judiciary a few weeks ago, so we’ll see how it plays out. But whatever we can do to limit that flow of illicit stuff across the border that’s damaging our kids and killing our children, I think we have to do that.
Washington Reporter:
Have you heard directly from parents in Alabama specifically who are concerned about this issue?
Rep. Barry Moore:
I know two young men from from our hometown who died from fentanyl poisoning. Now they came in different packaging. One actually ordered something from China, and he thought it was safe and it killed him. And another thought that it might have been a Percocet or something. It looked like the one you would see online if you looked up a Percocet, but it was laced with fentanyl. We lost far too many kids to fentanyl poisoning. China is sending that in. We don’t need to let it come in in these vapes. It’s still just as deadly. It’s just in a different form. We’ve family, friends, two boys who went to school with my daughters that both passed away; they thought they were getting one thing, but they got something else. And I think that’s the danger with these vapes. Kids are doing those and then they get laced with fentanyl. And certainly China’s not a friend of ours. And whatever we need to do to protect our kids, we need to do.
