MEXICO CITY (AP) — When a drug cartel came calling at a store selling vapes in northern Mexico, the owners knew they were powerless.
When a drug cartel came calling at a store selling vapes in northern Mexico, the owners knew they were powerless.
The cartel abducted two employees, blindfolded them and demanded to speak with their bosses. The cartel said it was seizing the store, which would only be allowed to sell online outside the state.
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“They don’t come asking whether you want to (give them your business) or not, they come telling you what’s about to happen,” one of the owners, now 27 and living in the United States, said on the condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal.
That was in early 2022, when vapes were still legal in Mexico, a market worth $1.5 billion. But earlier this month, the country banned the sale — although not the use — of electronic cigarettes. Experts believe organized crime will now consolidate its control over the sale of the devices.
“By banning it, you’re handing the market to non-state groups” in a country with high levels of corruption and violence tied to the cartels, said Zara Snapp, director of the Mexico-based Ría Institute, which studies drug policy in Latin America.
The ban also potentially strengthens the cartels by giving them another revenue stream that is not a high priority for the United States government, because vapes are still legal there, said Alejandro Rosario, a lawyer representing many vape shops.
Vaping is legal and regulated in the U.S. and Europe, but it’s now banned in at least eight Latin American countries. Some countries, like Japan, have used e-cigarettes to reduce tobacco use, but regulation has been on the rise, supported by the World Health Organization, which is concerned about growing teen use.
Former Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, an outspoken critic of vaping, banned the import and sale of e-cigarettes.
When Mexico’s Supreme Court declared that ban unconstitutional, López Obrador pushed for a constitutional amendment, which passed in January 2025 under his successor, President Claudia Sheinbaum. Electronic cigarettes are now included alongside the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl, something many lawyers see as totally out of proportion.
However, the lack of a law to implement the ban left a loophole, and vapes continued entering Mexico from China — the main producer — and the U.S. In December, they could still be found for sale in many shops and online.
Still, authorities carried out raids and seizures. Last February, 130,000 electronic cigarettes were seized in the port of Lazaro Cardenas.
