In 2025, the e-cigarette bans in Vietnam and Massachusetts, the United States, have successively fallen into enforcement difficulties, and the illegal market has shown “retaliatory growth”: Vietnam’s online black market is rampant: Although e-cigarette transactions are banned from January 1, 2025, merchants in Ho Chi Minh City have built hidden transaction chains through platforms such as Zalo and TikTok, using cryptocurrency payments and adopting the “collection point self-pickup” logistics model to evade supervision.
The amount of smuggling in the United States has skyrocketed by 21,000%: Massachusetts seized 279,000 illegal e-cigarette devices in 2024, a 210-fold increase from the previous year. Criminal groups took advantage of interstate regulatory differences to establish cross-regional smuggling networks. The threat to adolescent health has intensified: The e-cigarette use rate of teenagers aged 13-15 in Vietnam has soared from 3.5% in 2022 to 8% in 2023. In 2024, there were more than 1,200 cases of hospitalization due to e-cigarettes, some of which involved drug-containing cartridges.
Vietnam border “ant moving”: motorcycle smuggling gangs appeared at the border, dismantling e-cigarettes into parts and transporting them in batches, using complex terrain to evade customs inspections. American criminal groups infiltrate the supply chain: illegal suppliers mix contraband into regular logistics channels by imitating brand packaging and forging labels. 30% of the equipment seized in Massachusetts are counterfeit Altria and Philip Morris International products.
Social media has become the main battlefield for marketing: Vietnamese merchants use alternative words such as “steam equipment” and “atomizer accessories” on Facebook and TikTok to circumvent keyword blocking, and use short videos to display products to attract teenagers. Cryptocurrency payments are difficult to trace: In black market transactions in Ho Chi Minh City, more than 60% of orders are completed through Bitcoin or third-party collection platforms, and law enforcement agencies lack blockchain tracking technology.
As a representative brand in the e-cigarette industry, VEEHOO supports effective supervision through technological innovation and industry self-discipline: before the Vietnamese ban takes effect, all products are removed from the shelves, and the “one item, one code” traceability system is enabled. Consumers can verify the legitimacy of products through the App to block the circulation of counterfeit goods. Develop dynamic nicotine content adjustment technology, automatically lock the device when it detects minors using it, and reduce the risk of youth dependence from the source.
Jointly develop an AI image recognition system with the Singapore Health Sciences Authority to help customs quickly identify smuggled e-cigarettes. This technology has intercepted more than 50,000 illegal products in a pilot in Thailand. Launch a “transparent ingredient plan” to disclose the formula and toxicology test report of e-liquids, and call on global brands to ban high-risk additives such as cannabinoids.
Learn from the Singapore model, require telecom operators to block overseas banned websites, and customs deploy AI image recognition systems to spot check packages. In 2024, the country arrested more than 9,600 people for e-cigarette crimes. Vietnam, Thailand and China carried out joint operations, and seized 140,000 packages of e-cigarette smuggling cases on the China-Vietnam border in 2024, involving more than 11 million yuan. Provide transition solutions for traditional smokers, such as the “nicotine reduction program” launched by VEEHOO, which gradually reduces user intake through data tracking and reduces dependence on black market substitutes.
The wild growth of the e-cigarette black market exposes the global problem of “legislation and enforcement out of touch”. VEEHOO’s practice shows that corporate self-discipline and technology empowerment can be an effective supplement to supervision, and only when the government, platforms and brands work together can the vicious cycle of “the more bans, the more profits” be broken.
Tags: heated tobacco and nicotine bag products, aggravated youth health crisis, e-cigarette ban, veehoo vape