US EditionAfter Mexico bans vapes, cartels tighten their grip on a booming market
Mexico's vape sales ban, effective Jan. 16, 2026, has led cartels to dominate the illicit market using violence and extortion, according to lawyer Alejandro Rosario.
- Mexico's ban on vape sales took effect January 16, 2026, forbidding commercial activity around electronic cigarettes with fines and prison up to eight years.
- Former Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador banned vape imports and sales, and after Mexico's Supreme Court struck down the ban, a constitutional amendment passed in January 2025 under President Claudia Sheinbaum.
- Cartels moved to dominate supply chains by repackaging imports from Asian manufacturers, using intimidation and abducting two shop employees, while authorities seized over 50,000 vapes and 130,000 at the port of Lázaro Cárdenas.
- Shop owners have stopped selling or shut online shops, with Aldo Martínez, 39, Mexico City shop owner, halting vape sales despite $38,000 fine, while some suppliers sold inventory to organized crime.
- Experts warn organized crime will consolidate control over vape sales, hands cartels a new revenue stream given United States vaping legality, and raises risks of adulterated products and youth exposure.
33 Articles
33 Articles
If organized crime puts its eyes on your business, you are lost. Members of a cartel kidnapped for a few hours two workers from a vaping shop in the north of the country, blindfolded them, tied them up and asked to talk to the owners. They wanted to tell them that they were keeping their business. They could only sell on the Internet, but outside of that state. “They don’t come asking you if you want or not, they come telling you what’s about to…
MEXICO CITY—If organized crime puts its eyes on your business, you are lost. Members of a cartel kidnapped two workers from a vaping shop in northern Mexico for a few hours, blindfolded them, tied them up and asked them to talk to the owners. They wanted to tell them that they were keeping their business. They could only sell on the Internet, but outside that state. “They don’t come asking you if you want or not, they come telling you what’s abo…
Associated Press News
After Mexico bans vapes, cartels tighten their grip on a booming market
Organized crime in Mexico is tightening its grip on the vape market, a $1.5 billion industry. The country recently banned the sale of electronic cigarettes, though not their use.
MEXICO CITY- If organized crime puts its eyes on your business, you are lost.Members of a cartel kidnapped two workers from a vaping shop in northern Mexico for a few hours, blindfolded them, tied them up, and asked them to talk to the owners.They wanted to tell them that they were keeping their business.They could only sell on the Internet, but out of that state.You CAN INTEREST: Health Authority alerts by vapers: nicotine and metals raise lung…
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