The Last Puff: Investigative tech tightens net on illegal vapes
Wednesday, 29th October, 2025
When Britain outlawed disposable vapes this summer, the hope was to clean up both the nation’s streets and its lungs.
But far from vanishing overnight, vapes are now pouring through the black market as cheaply and brazenly as counterfeit fashion.
Some 1.19 million illegal vapes were seized by Trading Standards in 2023 – 24, a 59% increase on the year before, and the issue shows little signs of going away.[i]
Experts are warning that warehouses remain stacked with millions of banned single-use devices, and technology seems to be the only way to keep up with illegal sales.
Dave Sampson, a former detective, and now a consultant for investigative tech firm Altia, says the crackdown has created a shadow economy that looks alarmingly like early-stage drug trafficking.
“These warehouses didn’t just disappear when disposable vapes became illegal earlier this year,” he said.
“A huge proportion of the market, up to 60%, was disposable at the time and the stock still exists. People across the UK are still trying to shift them.”
While police forces are already stretched thin, particularly with violent crime and trafficking cases, disposable vapes are becoming the low-risk, high-reward sideline for street-level sellers and even petrol station staff.
Dave argues that enforcement won’t rely on brute force raids, but will hinge on smarter, tech-driven surveillance.
Illegal vape supply chains now live primarily online. Instagram shout-outs, Snapchat stories and even encrypted groups are becoming bustling digital marketplaces for teenagers and bargain-hunters alike.
Dave highlights that this gives police and trading standards a new opening.
“The key to preventing illegal vape sales is open-source intelligence, known as OSINT. It’s a technology capable of tracking social media signals, mapping out networks, and building evidential files that stand up in court.”
Tools powered by AI-driven monitoring are already surfacing. Software now in use at trade standard departments can comb online channels, spot trends in real time, and geolocate offenders pushing banned stock.
According to Dave, this technology creates a forensic “ring-fence” around illicit groups, identifying not just sellers, but their methods of engagement and financial footprints.
Disposable vapes were costing the UK environment dearly, with one being thrown away every 30 seconds. Now, the ban has created an unintended stockpile economy.
“Think of it like deactivated firearms in the past,” added Dave. “Some are even being stripped apart, converted, rebranded to look rechargeable. That blurs the legal line and makes storefront audits almost impossible without specialist knowledge.”
The enforcement challenge is compounded by consumer demand. For young people, many under 15, the appeal hasn’t vanished.
“For some kids, the first thing they do in the morning isn’t pick up their phone, it’s to take a puff of their vape,” he added.
With traditional policing unlikely to prioritise vape seizures over violent crime, trading standards officers are the frontline enforcers.
But here is where the technology steps in. Using investigative tools, such as Altia’s OSINT Investigator, can enable smart scanning, blockchain-style tracking of legitimate stock, and AI analysis of social networks which may become the modern substitute for old-fashioned raids.
And enforcement has a financial upside, too. Seizures of illegal products often lead to cash confiscations and supply chain intelligence that fund further investigations.
As Dave simply put: “The more you look, the more you’ll find, and it starts to resource itself.”
Disposable vapes may be illegal, but they’re not going away. Instead, vaping has been pushed underground, reshaping it into a social media-fuelled black market.
While law enforcement resources remain limited, the difference this time is the police and local councils have AI, data mapping, and open-source monitoring on their side.
