Pressure mounts on Mamdani to 'continue the fight' on illicit Chinese vapes flooding NYC

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 dependably been the capital of the criminal tobacco industry and the illicit Chinese vape bargain is no exception Former New York City Sheriff Edgar Domenech who is also a former ATF official who focused on tobacco and related contraband informed 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 requirements 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 million that the FDA has allocated to enforcement and making sure it is used to fund local efforts to combat the illicit arena For years federal executives have warned that disposable flavored vapes overwhelmingly manufactured in China remain widely available in the U S despite a federal ban But contemporary stings suggest they are only the visible tip of a much larger criminal operation Investigators have uncovered that several smoke shops which often appear to be ordinary convenience stores are serving as fronts for narcotics trafficking illegal firearms and extensive money-laundering schemes TRUMP ADMIN'S CRACKDOWN ON ILLICIT CHINESE VAPES IN US SCORES MAJOR WINS 'EMERGING THREAT'New York City has emerged as a national hotspot for the illegal vape deal inside its local markets and bodegas The Adams administration seized more than pounds of illicit vape products worth over 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 the bulk vulnerable New Yorkers children a spokesperson for Mayor Adams communicated the New York Post last year But with a new administration taking over representatives warn that now is not the time to scale back China s vape industry is estimated at billion and despite federal restrictions regime material indicates that two-thirds of its products reach U S consumers More than percent of vapes sold nationwide are illicit and not authorized for sale -FIGURE AD BUY URGES STATES TO CRACK DOWN AS CHINA FLOODS AREA WITH ILLICIT VAPES 'TRUMP WAS RIGHT'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 unit for comment Congress in recent weeks allocated 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 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