Kent County Council Trading Standards, working with Kent Police, have seized several million illegal vapes from a warehouse in Sittingbourne, Kent, in what authorities say is one of the largest seizures of its kind in the UK. The operation targeted a distribution hub that officials believe was supplying illicit products to corner shops and independent retailers across the local area.
On 27 January 2026, Kent County Council Trading Standards discovered the stock in an industrial unit near the Eurolink Industrial Estate. The haul included single-use (disposable) vapes — banned in the UK on 1 June 2025 — and devices with tanks exceeding the legal 2ml limit.
Dr Anjan Ghosh, Director of Public Health at Kent County Council, warned that unregulated vaping products are a serious health risk because they can contain toxic heavy metals and unsafe nicotine concentrations. He has cautioned that some illicit products may contain nicotine concentrations substantially above the legal maximum (the legal limit is 2% / 20 mg/ml), and that consumers cannot be sure what is in unregulated devices.
Mark Rolfe, Interim Head of Community Protection at Kent County Council, described the Sittingbourne site as the “beating heart” of the illicit trade in the region. Officials say the operation was intelligence-led and included tracking suspicious heavy goods vehicles arriving from local ports to identify where banned products were being stored before reaching high-street shelves.
Residents can spot potentially illegal vapes by checking whether the device tank exceeds the 2ml limit, whether packaging lacks the required health warning covering 30% of the front and back, or if other legal labelling (manufacturer details, nicotine strength) is missing. Anyone with information about shops selling these items can report it anonymously via the Kent County Council website or by contacting the Citizens Advice consumer helpline.
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