Vape Ban in Mexico Fuels New Revenue for Cartels

Drug cartels in Mexico are taking advantage of a new law that banned the sale of electronic cigarettes in the country. The use of vape pens and e-cigarettes is still legal, though, producing an opportunity for malicious actors to fill the gap with a black market.

On 15 January, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum published a broad reform to the nation’s General Health Law, including a mandate to ban the manufacture, importation, distribution, and commercialization of electronic cigarettes and vape devices.

The new law imposes fines of up to $12,500 and prison sentences of up to eight years for selling e-cigarettes.

The reform poses significant enforcement challenges, reported Mexico Business News. Although vaping devices have been restricted or prohibited in one way or another for several years, they are widely available to consumers in Mexico. The law is unclear about how many devices a person can possess and claim are for personal use. Foreign visitors are also subject to the law;  cruise ship companies are warning travelers not to bring vapes or e-cigarettes ashore in Mexico during port calls, since they would count as illegally imported devices.

Cartels have already started vying for market share. Rival cartels attacked dozens of vape dispensaries last year, aiming to control distribution of disposable vapes, including those laced with THC or marijuana, according to the Latin Times. Before the e-cigarette ban, cartels would often extort a commission on vape sales from dispensaries. Other cartels would produce vapes and intimidate or extort businesses to sell their products.

“While Mexico’s ban was being forged, organized crime expanded its share of the sector across northern states and the country’s largest cities, Guadalajara and Mexico City,” the Associated Press (AP) reported. “Sometimes, they even marked their product with stickers or stamps to distinguish their brand, reminiscent of their stamped fentanyl pills.”

The ban pushes vape sales underground in Mexico, potentially giving cartels a bigger opportunity to keep profiting from the devices.

A lawyer representing vape shops in Mexico told the AP that the cartels are already presenting themselves as suppliers and formal businesses. Some are buying disposable vape pen shells directly from Asian manufacturers to fill themselves.

“Given the lack of regulation, that raises the potential for adulterated products from organizations that already handle all manner of illicit drugs,” the AP said.