SCOOP: The Trump administration's 2025 success against illegal Chinese vapes, by the numbers

As the Trump administration wraps up 2025, the U.S. has seen record low numbers of illegal border crossings. When it comes to border security, the administration has also acted to curb illicit vapes flowing into America from China.

Another element concerns the successful moves from across the administration — covered throughout the year by the Washington Reporter against illicit vapes flowing into America from China.

A Senate source told the Reporter that “the crackdown on illegal Chinese vapes has been a welcome policy contrast from the Biden Administration. It’s a tangible win towards making America safer and our Republican candidates can cite this in midterm ads.”

In one case, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seized almost $100 million in illegal e-cigarettes in the largest vape bust in American history; the agencies noted that “almost all” of the products seized originated in China.

The Trump administration’s Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) also announced a new initiative this year, Operation Vape Trail, which has “seized more than 2.3 million vape devices and cartridges and more than 100 weapons since September 15, 2025.”

In May, the FDA and CBP seized “nearly two million units of unauthorized e-cigarette products in Chicago, with an estimated retail value of $33.8 million,” and Operation Smoke Signals in Florida led to the arrests of “twenty-seven people across 20 vape stores…for selling vaping products to minors.”

Proponents of the administration’s efforts say that distributors of illicit Chinese vapes often sell other illegal drugs and guns as well, and the results of the seizures have devastated the underground economies. The Trump administration’s efforts have led to over $100 million in seizures of more than 10 million Chinese vapes, as well as over 100 arrests.

Sens. Thom Tillis (R., N.C.) and Dick Durbin (D., Ill.), alongside Reps. Celeste Maloy (R., Utah) and Herb Conaway (D., N.J.) rolled out bipartisan legislation to strengthen President Donald Trump’s work to counter illicit tobacco products.

One of Trump’s pollsters, Tony Fabrizio, also conducted a poll on behalf of the Protecting America Initiative which showed how Trump’s focus on Chinese vapes could benefit the GOP.

“Awareness of recent Trump Administration crackdowns on illegal vapes and smoke shops is limited, but highly positive and politically beneficial for Republicans,” Fabrizio found. “Keep up the enforcement and do more of it.”