The Unforeseen Consequence: How Mexico’s Vape Ban Empowers Drug Cartels

The knock on the door of a vape store in northern Mexico wasn’t from a customer, but from a drug cartel. What followed was a chilling display of power: two employees abducted, blindfolded, and a demand to speak with their bosses. The cartel wasn’t asking for business; it was announcing a takeover. The store, once a legitimate enterprise in a burgeoning $1.5 billion market, was now under their control, permitted only to sell online, outside the state.

“They don’t come asking whether you want to (give them your business) or not, they come telling you what’s about to happen,” recounted one of the former owners, now 27 and living anonymously in the United States, fearing reprisal. This incident, occurring in early 2022 when vapes were still legal, foreshadowed a grim future. Just recently, Mexico enacted a sweeping ban on the sale of electronic cigarettes, a move experts warn will inadvertently hand a lucrative new market directly to organized crime.

A Shadow Economy Emerges

From Legal Market to Cartel Territory

The paradox is stark: a policy aimed at public health is now seen as a potential boon for the very groups that traffic in far deadlier substances. “By banning it, you’re handing the market to non-state groups” in a country already grappling with endemic corruption and cartel violence, states Zara Snapp, director of the Mexico-based Ría Institute, which specializes in drug policy. Alejandro Rosario, a lawyer representing numerous vape shops, echoes this concern, highlighting how the ban provides cartels with an additional revenue stream that, unlike cocaine or fentanyl, isn’t a high priority for U.S. law enforcement, given vapes remain legal north of the border.

Mexico’s Stance: A Path to Prohibition

The Legislative Battle and Controversial Classification

While vaping is regulated and legal in the U.S. and Europe, its prohibition is gaining traction in Latin America, with Mexico now among at least eight countries to ban it. This trend, despite some nations like Japan using e-cigarettes to reduce tobacco use, is supported by the World Health Organization, which cites concerns over rising teen usage.

Former Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, a vocal critic of vaping, initiated the ban on import and sale. When the Supreme Court deemed this unconstitutional, he pushed for a constitutional amendment. This amendment, which passed in January 2025 under his successor, President Claudia Sheinbaum, controversially places electronic cigarettes alongside the potent synthetic opioid fentanyl. Many legal experts view this classification as disproportionate and alarming.

Navigating the New Reality: Fear and Loopholes

Business Owners Face Stark Choices

Initially, a lack of implementing legislation created a loophole, allowing vapes, primarily from China and the U.S., to continue entering Mexico. Despite this, authorities conducted raids, seizing 130,000 e-cigarettes at the port of Lazaro Cardenas last February. Aldo Martínez, a 39-year-old Mexico City shop owner, faced a $38,000 fine for selling the devices, a ruling he successfully fought.

However, December saw the loophole decisively closed. A new law now prohibits virtually all aspects of vapes except personal consumption, carrying fines and prison sentences of up to eight years. Martínez, whose income was two-thirds dependent on vape sales, immediately ceased operations. “I don’t want to go to jail,” he stated. He now fears authorities might raid his shop and plant vapes to extort him.

Consumers and the Threat of Extortion

Consumers also live under a cloud of uncertainty. While possessing vapes isn’t illegal, the new law is vague on what constitutes ‘personal use,’ leaving individuals vulnerable to corrupt officials. Juan José Cirión Lee, a lawyer and president of the collective Mexico and the World Vaping, plans to challenge these ambiguous and contradictory regulations in court. “If I make a vague law … I give corrupt authorities the ability to interpret it in a way to extort people,” he warns.

The Cartel’s Expanding Empire

Intimidation, Seizure, and Branded Vapes

As Mexico moved towards prohibition, organized crime was already consolidating its grip on the vape sector across northern states and major cities like Guadalajara and Mexico City. Cartels have even begun branding their products with stickers or stamps, a chilling echo of their fentanyl pill operations.

Lawyer Alejandro Rosario recounts stories of intimidation, extortion, and violence forcing sellers in states like Sonora out of business. Some of his former clients in Sinaloa, however, chose to sell cartel-supplied vapes, promised immunity from authorities. Rosario estimates he has lost 40% of his clients due to these shifts.

The shop owner now in the U.S. considers himself fortunate; the cartel paid for his business and sought his operational expertise, already possessing intimate knowledge of his life, including addresses and family names. He and his co-owner are now closing their online business, unwilling to choose between cartel dictates and potential prison sentences under the new ban. Another long-time Mexico City seller, also anonymous for safety, reported clients being intimidated by thugs for buying vapes online, while one of his suppliers simply sold his entire inventory to the cartels.

A Pyrrhic Victory?

Mexico’s vape ban, while perhaps well-intentioned, appears to be a classic case of unintended consequences. By eliminating a regulated market, the government has inadvertently created a vacuum that organized crime is rapidly filling. This policy not only strengthens the financial muscle of cartels, but it also exposes countless citizens to extortion and violence, further complicating Mexico’s already arduous battle against its powerful criminal underworld.

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