Op-Ed: Peter Forcelli: Illicit vaping isn’t just a public health problem. It’s a trade fraud crisis.

The growing flood of illicit vaping products into the United States is often framed as a public health issue. That is true, but it misses a critical point: this is also a large scale trade fraud problem, one that is undermining U.S. law, disadvantaging legitimate businesses, and funneling billions of dollars through illegal supply chains.

Today, the overwhelming majority of vaping products sold in the United States have not been authorized by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Many are manufactured abroad, primarily in China, and enter the U.S. market by evading federal import requirements, customs inspections, and tariff obligations.

Recent enforcement findings show that illicit vaping products are frequently mislabeled to avoid detection, declared as everyday goods like “lithium batteries,” “toys,” or “flashlights” to bypass inspections and dodge tariffs.

The result is a distorted marketplace driven by fraud. Companies that comply with U.S. requirements are forced to compete with products that ignore those rules. Retailers are left navigating a market flooded with illegal goods, while law enforcement faces widespread noncompliance.

At the same time, this illicit trade is depriving the United States of tariff revenue and enabling broader criminal activity. Financial investigations have shown that illicit vaping products can be used in trade based money laundering schemes tied to transnational criminal organizations.

I’ve seen how these illicit markets operate firsthand as a 30-year law enforcement veteran. At the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and at the NYPD, I investigated organized crime networks that smuggled untaxed and counterfeit tobacco to fund broader criminal activity, from drugs and guns to terror financing. These groups relied on mislabeling shipments and exploiting gaps in global trade, the same playbook driving today’s surge in illicit vaping.

Chinese e-cigarette exports to the U.S. surpassed $10 billion in 2025, while enforcement remains limited. Addressing this challenge requires recognizing illicit vaping as a trade fraud issue that demands a trade enforcement response.

The federal government has begun to move in this direction. The work of the Trade Fraud Task Force is especially important, opening the door to stronger coordination, additional enforcement tools, and more effective resource deployment.

Recent operations underscore both the scale of the problem and the impact of coordinated enforcement. Through Operation Red Mist, federal agencies seized more than 18 million illegal e cigarettes valued at over $175 million, uncovering widespread mislabeling and efforts to evade import requirements.

But more must be done.

Trade enforcement must be scaled to match the size of the illicit market. That means increasing inspections, strengthening penalties for mislabeling and tariff evasion, and improving coordination across agencies. Enforcement should also focus upstream on the manufacturers, exporters, and distributors driving this activity.

At the same time, enforcement must be paired with a functioning legal marketplace. As long as demand persists and legal options remain limited, illicit operators will continue to fill the gap.

There are signs of progress. The FDA recently released updated enforcement guidance prioritizing higher risk, noncompliant products while taking a more measured approach toward those with sufficiently complete applications. This is intended to better allocate resources and create a clearer pathway for compliant products.

That is a step in the right direction. But it is not enough.

Even the most thoughtful FDA policy cannot succeed if illicit products continue to flood the market through large scale customs evasion. Trade fraud is the entry point, and until it is addressed directly, illegal products will continue to undermine regulators and disrupt the market.

Law enforcement has demonstrated these networks can be disrupted when efforts are coordinated. The path forward is clear: treat illicit vaping not just as a regulatory violation, but as a trade fraud problem and use the full weight of trade enforcement to stop it at the border.

Peter Forcelli is a retired Deputy Assistant Director from the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Prior to joining ATF he served for 15 years with the N.Y.P.D., before retiring from the Bronx Homicide Task Force.