The last puff: Investigative tech tightens net on illegal vapes

By Dave Sampson, Consultant at Altia

Illegal vape investigations: how technology is tightening the net

When Britain banned disposable vapes in 2025, the aim was to reduce their impact on both public health and the environment.

However, illegal vapes have not simply disappeared. Instead, some sales have moved further underground, creating new challenges for Trading Standards and law enforcement teams.

In 2023–24, Trading Standards seized around 1.19 million illegal vapes, a 59% increase on the previous year. Yet banned and non-compliant products continue to reach consumers.

As illegal sellers increasingly use social media and other online channels, illegal vape investigations need to follow them into the digital space.

A growing black market for illegal vapes

The disposable vape ban changed the legal market, but existing stock did not disappear overnight.

Dave Sampson, a former detective and now Consultant at Altia, says this has contributed to a growing shadow economy.

“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.”

For sellers, illegal vapes can offer a relatively low-risk route into illicit trading.

At the same time, police resources remain stretched across serious offences such as violent crime and drug trafficking. Therefore, Trading Standards teams have an important role to play in identifying illegal sellers and disrupting supply.

Illegal vape sales are moving online

The challenge is no longer limited to physical shops or warehouses.

Social media platforms, messaging services and online groups can all provide routes for sellers to advertise illegal products and connect with buyers.

This creates a challenge for enforcement teams. However, it also creates an investigative opportunity.

Online activity can leave behind information that helps investigators identify sellers, understand relationships and build a wider intelligence picture.

That is where open-source intelligence can help.

Dave explains:

“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.”

How OSINT can support illegal vape investigations

Open-source intelligence can help investigators examine publicly available digital information connected to suspected illegal vape sales.

Rather than looking at an individual post or seller in isolation, investigators can begin to identify the wider network around them.

For example, teams may examine:

• Social media accounts and posts
• Online advertisements and product listings
• Connections between accounts
• Names, usernames and contact details
• Businesses or premises linked to sellers
• Images and other publicly available digital information
• Patterns of activity across different platforms

As a result, investigators can start to understand not only who is selling illegal products, but also how those sellers may connect to a wider supply chain.

Altia’s OSINT Investigator supports investigators carrying out open-source research and analysing digital information.

Connecting online intelligence with real-world activity

Digital intelligence becomes more valuable when investigators connect it with information gathered elsewhere.

For example, an online account advertising illegal vapes may lead investigators to a business, premises or individual. A physical inspection could then uncover further products, records or financial information.

Likewise, information gathered during an inspection may reveal new usernames, telephone numbers or businesses to investigate online.

This creates a more connected investigative picture.

Our guide to digital investigations for Trading Standards explores how teams can capture and preserve online evidence alongside wider investigative activity.

The challenge of identifying illegal stock

Illegal vape investigations are becoming increasingly complex because products themselves can change.

Dave explains that some disposable products may be altered or rebranded:

“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.”

Therefore, investigators may need to consider both the physical product and the wider intelligence surrounding its sale.

This makes specialist knowledge particularly important. It can help teams distinguish legitimate products from stock that sellers have modified, misrepresented or supplied illegally.

Demand continues to drive the market

Enforcement also faces another challenge: consumer demand.

Despite the ban, demand for vaping products has not disappeared. This includes demand among young people.

Dave said:

“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.”

Where demand remains strong, illegal sellers have an incentive to find new ways to reach customers.

Consequently, investigators need to understand how those sellers advertise products and communicate with buyers.

Building a stronger intelligence picture

Investigative technology can help Trading Standards teams bring different pieces of information together.

An investigation might begin with a social media account. However, that account could lead to other sellers, businesses, locations or financial activity.

Connecting these pieces can reveal relationships that would be difficult to identify when teams review each piece of information separately.

This is particularly important when illicit activity stretches across both digital and physical environments.

Teams conducting inspections can also use mobile investigative tools to capture information at the point of activity. Read more about how mobile investigator tools can support Trading Standards teams.

Following the money behind illegal sales

Illegal product seizures can also uncover financial information.

Cash, transaction records and other financial evidence may help investigators understand the scale of an operation. They can also reveal relationships between sellers and suppliers.

Therefore, following the money can add another layer to the investigation.

As Dave puts it:

“The more you look, the more you’ll find, and it starts to resource itself.”

Combining financial information with open-source intelligence can help teams move beyond an individual seller and examine the wider network behind the activity.

Technology can help Trading Standards teams keep pace

Illegal vapes have not gone away. Instead, parts of the market have moved underground and into digital spaces.

For Trading Standards teams, this means illegal vape investigations increasingly need to connect online intelligence with physical enforcement activity.

OSINT can help investigators identify digital activity, uncover relationships and understand wider networks. Meanwhile, structured investigation tools can help teams preserve what they find and connect it with the wider case.

Technology will not replace experienced investigators or specialist knowledge. However, it can give teams another way to find, organise and analyse information.

As illegal sellers adapt, investigative methods need to adapt with them.

Explore how Altia supports digital investigations for Trading Standards or learn more about OSINT Investigator.

[i] Millions of illicit vapes and tobacco products seized by Trading Standards – National Trading Standards