NYC Mayor-elect Mamdani faces pressure over illicit Chinese vape crackdown

New York City’s socialist Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is facing pressure to outline his position and plans on cracking down on illicit Chinese vapes that have flooded the United States, which have sparked widespread concern as the illegal products are being sold inside bodegas throughout the city.

“New York City has always been the capital of the criminal tobacco market and the illicit Chinese vape trade is no exception,” Former New York City Sheriff Edgar Domenech, who is also a former ATF official who focused on tobacco and related contraband, told Fox News Digital.

“They continue to be sold by smoke shops in every borough and on every corner. The Adams administration made strong strides bringing enforcement action and Mayor-elect Mamdani needs to continue that fight to protect New York’s children and defend small businesses. The first step should be fighting for a piece of the $200 million that the FDA has allocated to enforcement and making sure it is used to fund local efforts to combat the illicit market.”

For years, federal officials have warned that disposable flavored vapes, overwhelmingly manufactured in China, remain widely available in the U.S. despite a federal ban. But recent stings suggest they are only the visible tip of a much larger criminal operation. Investigators have uncovered that many smoke shops, which often appear to be ordinary convenience stores, are serving as fronts for narcotics trafficking, illegal firearms, and extensive money-laundering schemes.

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New York City has emerged as a national hotspot for the illegal vape trade inside its local markets and bodegas. The Adams administration seized more than 1,200 pounds of illicit vape products worth over $80 million, so much that the city had to pay to destroy them because warehouses were overflowing. The city also sued nine major national distributors, including one based in Buffalo, accused of shipping Chinese-made, candy-flavored vapes into New York neighborhoods and targeting teenagers.

“We are facing an epidemic of e-cigarette and vape use among young people, and we will not stand by while manufacturers and wholesalers supply our city with illegal, harmful products that target our most vulnerable New Yorkers — children,” a spokesperson for Mayor Adams told the New York Post last year.

But with a new administration taking over, officials warn that now is not the time to scale back. China’s vape industry is estimated at $28 billion, and despite federal restrictions, government data indicates that two-thirds of its products reach U.S. consumers. More than 80 percent of vapes sold nationwide are illicit and not authorized for sale.

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It is unclear how strongly a Mamdani administration will enforce the crackdown on illicit Chinese vapes. Fox News Digital reached out to the Mamdani transition team for comment. 

Congress recently allocated $200 million through the FDA to combat illicit vapes in the United States, funds New York City could presumably use to address the issue. 

Mamdani has pledged to cut fees and fines on small businesses by 50 percent, and late in the campaign secured the endorsement of the United Bodegas of America, a group whose member stores have repeatedly been cited for violating federal and state vape bans.