Key points:
- The US Department of Justice and FDA have conducted a joint operation, seizing 2.1 million illegal e-cigarette products across seven states.
- The seized e-cigarette products did not undergo FDA market review and some were found to have false labels.
- The Department of Justice has filed civil injunction lawsuits against the distributors and retailers involved to prevent the sale of illegal products in the future.
- The court has authorized the seizure of e-cigarette products that have not been approved by the FDA, ensuring that illegal products do not enter the market.
2Firsts, September 30, 2025 - According to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice website, the Justice Department, together with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), announced today that recent actions targeting unauthorized flavored e-cigarettes, or vapes, resulted in the seizure of more than 2.1 million illicit vaping products taken from five distributors and six retailers across seven different states.
In detention complaints and related court documents filed in a US district court, the government alleges that these distributors and retailers received warnings from the FDA informing them that their e-cigarettes needed to obtain premarket approval before being legally sold.
According to the seizure complaint, recent inspections by the FDA and undercover purchases by agents from the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Bureau (ATF) show that these companies continue to sell or distribute unauthorized e-cigarette products. The seizure operation was carried out by the US Marshals Service, ATF agents, and other law enforcement partners, with support from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the FDA.
Attorney General Pamela Bondi has stated that this month's raid is just the beginning, and the DOJ will be working with HHS to prosecute all individuals involved in the illegal sale of these products.
The Department of Justice has filed civil injunction lawsuits against distributors and retailers of seized products in an effort to prevent future illegal activities. The complaints allege that the defendants continued to sell counterfeit and falsely labeled tobacco products even after receiving warnings from the FDA.
The injunction lawsuit targets the detained entities and individuals, including:
- A company named Tampa Vapor and its owner, Michael R. Synychak, have filed a lawsuit in central Florida against an entity.
- Progressive Retail Inc., operating under the name Rainbow Food Mart, is a company based in Tampa, Florida. Its president Varun Chawla has filed a lawsuit in the central district of Florida.
- Bouslimi Holdings, Inc., operating under the name Marathon/Food Center, is a company based in Tampa, Florida. Its president, Imed Bouslimi, has filed a lawsuit in central Florida.
- Joint Effort, Inc. is a company based in Miami, Florida, operating under the name Blvd Smoke Shop. The company's executive and director, Husam Bahhur, has filed a lawsuit in the southern district of Florida.
- Calle 8 Petroleum LLC, operating under the name UGAS/Circle K, is a company based in Miami, Florida. Its owner, Rashid A. Saeed, has filed a lawsuit in the southern district of Florida.
- Smoke House Sunset is a company located in Los Angeles, California. Its owner, Ali Masoud, has filed a lawsuit in the Central District of California.
- D&A Distribution, LLC conducts business under the name Strictly E-Cig and is a company headquartered in Savannah, Georgia. The owner, Robert S. Ali, has filed a lawsuit in the southern district of Georgia.
- PSM101, LLC conducts business under the name Center Point Distributors, with its headquarters located in South Plainfield, New Jersey. The owner is Niravkumar G. Vora, who has filed a lawsuit in the New Jersey area.
- B&G Trading LLC, operating under the name Vaportech Wholesale, is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. The company is co-owned by Ataman Bilgin and Hasmet Girgin, who are involved in a lawsuit in the Arizona area.
- Midwest Goods Inc. operates under the names Midwest Distribution and Midwest Distribution Illinois, with its headquarters located in Bensonville, Illinois. The owner and CEO of the company is Kamran Yasin, and the company has filed a lawsuit in the northern district of Illinois.
- Dream Distro LLC, a company located in Garner, North Carolina, is facing a lawsuit from its owner Faisal A. Alhadrami in the Eastern District of North Carolina.
- A lawsuit has been filed against Gorilla Vapes LLC, a company based in New Jersey, and its co-owners Nick Jurczyk and Russell Jurczyk in the state of New Jersey.
According to the law, e-cigarette manufacturers typically must obtain FDA market review and approval before selling their products. In each seizure action, the court has issued seizure orders authorizing the confiscation of e-cigarette products that have not been granted market authorization.
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