CHICAGO (WAND) - Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi were in the Chicago area Wednesday, announcing joint seizure operations of illicit vape sales.
The move comes as the White House has been talking about the military into the city.
NBC Chicago reports the operation, by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Food and Drug Administration, was executed across six states Wednesday morning and targeted five distributors and nine retailers with civil enforcement action.
Bondi and Kennedy were both at the site of the largest seizure in Bensenville, Ill., where 600,000 units of illegal product was seized.
The Department of Justice targeted the distributors and retailers to stop alleged distributions of certain vaping products, including illegally-flavored vapes, THC-infused vapes, and products containing 7-OH, an illegal compound with opioid-like effects derived from kratom plants, NBC Chicago said.
The ATF along with the U.S. Marshals Service carried out the raids in Illinois, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey and North Carolina.
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the FDA's ban on the selling of flavored vapes not approved by the FDA in April.
Bondi told the ATF to move forward with a planned operation in August after Kennedy identified illicit vaping products shipped into the U.S. from China as a priority for the health department.
"It's clear many of these products are being illegally brought into America. They're targeting children, young adults, college students and even members of our military," Bondi said at a press conference Wednesday.
"These illegal and unregulated products are not safe," she said, and "Chinese companies are making millions off these products."
"The Department of Justice will use every legal measure to stop" the sales, she said.
Kennedy said the packaging of some of the products from China was "designed to attract young people. Those products are banned in China.
Earlier this week, the Department of Homeland Security announced Immigration and Customs Enforcement was launching "Operation Midway Blitz," targeting undocumented immigrants who have committed crimes.
The Trump administration has repeatedly said they may send in the National Guard to combat high crime in the city.
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