The owner of a ram-raided vape shop believes more attacks will happen to fuel a future black market as the Government cracks down on cheap disposable vapes.
He’s not alone, with a Rotorua dairy owner saying vapes and cigarettes are targeted by thieves, and another vape store worker believing there is a “very real possibility vapes will be sold on the black market” and people are “panic-buying” ahead of the policy changes.
However, health officials say the risk of a black market for disposable vapes is “considered low” as there will be alternative nicotine products on the market - albeit fewer disposable options.
Boom Vape Shop in Whakatāne was ram-raided early in the morning last Tuesday, with footage showing three masked people using a car to smash through the front doors.
A police spokesman said the vehicle involved had been found and a youth had been apprehended, with inquiries continuing.
Boom Vape Shop owner Pawik Patel alleged the group targeted two major brands of disposable vapes, taking products valued at around $8000.
He believed ram-raids on vape stores were “going to go on because disposable vapes are going to be out … there’s going to be a big black market”.
Minister of Health Ayesha Verrall announced this month the Government was changing rules to limit the sale of cheap disposable vapes popular with young people.
All vaping devices would be required to have removable or replaceable batteries, as well as child safety mechanisms, from August. Disposable or single-use vape products needed to be made compliant by November, and reusable vapes from March.
Patel believed the changes were the reason vape stores were being targeted in raids.
”[The Government] has created a situation where all the power is with them,” he said of dealing with those stealing from stores.
”All we can do is suffer.”
While this was the first time his five-month-old vape store had been targeted, his superette was held up and ram-raided on separate occasions in 2021.
Owner of Rotorua’s Fresh @ Dairy Satvir Singh said he believed a black market forming with stolen vape products was “possible” as things were sold underground when they were not available legally.
He had only owned the business for a few weeks and said while he couldn’t speak from experience, he was “worried” about it happening.
“Ram-raids are happening pretty much on a weekend basis… it’s bad at the moment.”
He said vapes and cigarettes were “100 per cent” being targeted when dairies were robbed or ram-raided.
“Nothing else in a dairy is expensive. What else are you going to steal, a $2 milk?”
A Bay of Plenty vape store manager, who spoke on the condition she was not named, said it had taken steps to prevent ram-raids, but she still feared vape shops would be targeted after the Government’s changes.
She said the new policies have “stressed out a lot of people who are dependent on disposables to stay off cigarettes”.
“I think there’s a very real possibility vapes will be sold on the black market with the rates of ram-raids.”
She said she had also noticed people “panic-buying”.
While she understood the need to deter children from vaping, she said the policy changes would take away an affordable option for people to keep off cigarettes. Most sales at the store were to people aged 30-plus.
She said people who used disposable vapes spent around $20 a week, while the starting price for the other vapes was between $50 and $60, which was “too expensive” for many in her town.
Shosha spokesman Nabhik Gupta, however, said he did not believe the recent policy changes would lead to a black market as they targeted specific product categories, not the whole industry.
“Existing vapers and smokers will still have alternative options available to them,” he said.
Shosha has nine Bay of Plenty stores, with six of those in the west of the region.
He said vape stores had “unfortunately” recently become targets of ram-raids, and he’d experienced some at its stores.
“We don’t believe policy change will deter ram-raids. We hope that appropriate actions will be taken to deter these incidents and maintain a safe environment for businesses and the community.”
Verrall told NZME she had been advised there was a “low likelihood of a black market or illicit trade in disposable vapes as there will be alternative nicotine delivery products, such as re-usable vapes, still available on the market”.
A Manatū Hauora Ministry of Health spokeswoman said the risk of a black market in disposable vapes that do not meet the new regulations was “considered low” as there would be alternative nicotine products on the market.
She said the Government would keep monitoring and adjusting its regulatory settings to get the “intended balance right” between helping people quit smoking and addressing youth vaping.
She said vaping had contributed to a big drop in smoking in New Zealand in recent years.
She said the existing product safety requirements were being modified for disposable vapes to make them safer - allowing batteries to be inspected for damage and safely disposed of reduced sealed battery risks.
“We accept that these policy changes may lead to a reduction in single-use or disposable vape options. However, the policies are balancing the needs of people who smoke to switch to a less harmful alternative while protecting non-smokers and, particularly, young people from these products.
Alternative nicotine products, including reusable vapes, would still be available and were cheaper than “smoked tobacco products”.
She said single-use vapes were not being banned. Doing that would require an amendment to the Smokefree Act via a Parliamentary process.
The spokeswoman said the industry had been given time to consider how it will adjust to meet the new requirements, including sell-through of existing products.
The ministry would review policy settings for vaping products later this year to see if any necessary changes are needed to “better support the intent and objectives of the Act”.
The review will consider the availability, appeal and addictiveness of vaping, smokeless tobacco and emerging products.
Any law changes would follow usual Parliamentary processes, including consideration by a select committee.
Police declined to comment on questions about the black market. A spokesperson said: “Legislation is not for police to comment on”.
Police were also unable to provide figures or an anecdotal comment on whether there had been an increase in the number of vape-related ram-raids since the policy changes were announced in early June.
Police referred NZME to information on its website about the Retail Crime Prevention Programme, which has been allocated $6 million from the Proceeds of Crime Fund for giving retailers protective equipment and prevention advice.
“We appreciate the distress that the spike in ram-raid-style burglaries and robberies [is] causing retailers and communities.
“Police are responding to these incidents at a district and national level with significant investigative action to identify those responsible and prevent re-victimisation.”
Cira Olivier is a social issues and breaking news reporter for NZME Bay of Plenty. She has been a journalist since 2019.
The woman was shaken by the incident.