TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Lawyer Normal James Uthmeier introduced Thursday what officers described as the most important seizure of unlawful and contraband vaping merchandise in state historical past, following a sequence of coordinated enforcement actions carried out by a statewide Vape Job Pressure.
The joint operations concerned the Lawyer Normal’s Enforcement Unit, the Florida Division of Agriculture and Client Providers (FDACS), the Florida Division of Enterprise and Skilled Regulation, and a number of native regulation enforcement businesses. Authorities focused vape outlets accused of unlawfully promoting merchandise that violate Florida regulation and pose dangers to youngsters and customers.
Uthmeier stated the seizure sends a powerful warning to retailers who revenue from unlawful nicotine merchandise marketed to minors or designed to evade state laws. State Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson added that such merchandise threaten public well being and undermine authentic companies, emphasizing continued enforcement efforts to take away them from retailer cabinets.
Regulation-enforcement companions throughout 4 task-force operations confiscated 2,183 unlawful vapes, together with nitrous-oxide canisters, chargers, and associated paraphernalia. Seizures included 263 gadgets in Clermont, 636 in Ocoee, 855 in Okaloosa County, and 423 in Milton.
Officers additionally seized 195 nitrous-oxide canisters from one enterprise throughout a compliance examine, together with extra canisters, chargers generally generally known as “crackers,” and balloons used for inhalation. The proprietor of the enterprise was arrested on a number of felony counts tied to the unlawful sale of nitrous oxide, which Florida regulation classifies as drug paraphernalia.
Regulatory inspections by FDACS led to the removing of hundreds of extra unlawful merchandise from shops in Clermont and Ocoee, with totals from different enforcement areas nonetheless being finalized. Officers stated violations included improper labeling, lack of child-resistant packaging, illegal advertising and marketing practices, and packaging or branding designed to enchantment to youngsters.
Authorities additionally cited references to unlawful substances and the presence of managed or prohibited compounds—together with 7-hydroxymitragynine, tianeptine, and hemp extracts exceeding authorized THC limits—as causes for eradicating merchandise from sale.
State and native leaders stated the coordinated enforcement effort displays an ongoing dedication to guard communities, significantly minors, from harmful or illegal vaping and inhalant merchandise. Investigations and inspections stay lively statewide.
Uthmeier’s workplace famous that the Vape Free Florida Fund, created in 2025 following a $79 million settlement with JUUL Labs, helps enforcement of the state’s nicotine and vapor legal guidelines and goals to maintain dangerous merchandise out of youngsters’s palms.
