- Tip-off leads to biggest single vape seizure in Western Australia
- Haul of illegal vapes with a street value of more than $1 million
- State Government cracking down on the illegal selling of vapes
A crackdown on the illegal sale of vapes has seen WA Health compliance officers seize $1 million of vapes destined to be illegally sold in Western Australia.
Following a tip-off, a truck carrying 17,000 vapes from New South Wales was intercepted in Perth and the vapes on board were seized by compliance officers at the Department of Health.
The liquid content from the seized vapes has been tested, and returned a positive result for nicotine, a highly addictive poison.
A 22-year-old man from Perth is assisting the Department with its inquiries.
It is an offence to manufacture, supply, or possess a product containing nicotine without a doctor’s prescription.
Vapes and e-cigarettes can contain up to 200 toxic chemicals, including the same harmful chemicals found in cleaning products, nail polish remover, weed killer, bug spray and paint stripper.
In addition to the WA Schools Anti-Vaping Toolkit, the State Government has provided $375,000 to the Cancer Council to develop a digital education campaign highlighting the risks of using vapes and more than $2.4 million to deliver the Make Smoking History campaign over the next three years.
Anyone who has information regarding the illegal sale of e-cigarettes or vapes is urged to ‘dob-in-a dealer’ by contacting Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
As stated by Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson:
“This haul is the biggest single seizure in Western Australia to date. In previous compliance activity, WA Health has seized more than 26,000 illegal vapes.
“There is no doubt vaping is a scourge on the health of young people across Australia, which is why WA has some of the some of the toughest tobacco laws in the country.
“We have increased State-wide monitoring and compliance activities to enforce restrictions on the illegal selling of vapes.
“Anyone who has any information about the illegal supply of vapes is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.”
