Stanly County vape shops targeted in sting

STANLY COUNTY, N.C. — The Stanly County Sheriff’s Office spearheaded a law enforcement operation targeting 17 vape shops accused of selling illegal marijuana products to minors.

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Lt. Trent Middlebrook with the Stanly County Sheriff’s Office is heading the operation, which focuses on combating youth vaping in the area.

The operation was launched to address the volume of vaping devices confiscated from students in local schools.

Middlebrook emphasized the scale of youth vaping in the district.

“I mean, it could be (600), 700 vapes we’re getting out of schools a school year. It’s a crazy amount,” Middlebrook said. “They’ll have all these different types of vapes, and we send it all to a lab. Comes back is marijuana, 100% marijuana. Nobody’s functioning legally in our community, vape store-wise. Yeah, nobody, not just one or two, are doing OK. Nobody was.”

As part of the investigation, law enforcement officers conducted controlled buys at all 17 targeted establishments. Subsequent testing on products previously purchased from the shops revealed chemical concentration levels matching street-level marijuana rather than legal hemp.

“They are going to say it’s hemp, but out of all the controlled buys that we have done for all the establishments all of it has tested higher than the 0.3% its coming back higher. It’s marijuana. It’s street level,” Sheriff Jeff Crisco said.

Uwharrie Kush, one of the vape shops named in the operation, issued a public statement following the law enforcement action.

“Following these events, we want to reaffirm our commitment to lawful business practices, product safety and the community we serve,” Uwharrie Kush stated.

The business outlined its compliance approach in the statement.

“Our standards are clear: the products we carry must comply with applicable law and every aspect of our business must be conducted responsibly,” the statement read. “Customer safety and trust remain central to our approach to selecting hemp products and providing knowledgeable, attentive service.”

Uwharrie Kush also addressed the broader law enforcement effort. “We recognize the importance of enforcement efforts that protect the public and hold businesses accountable,” the business stated.

Following the collection of evidence at the vape shops, officers packed the seized items into boxes and transported them back to the agency’s command center to be reprocessed and counted.

North Carolina law requires customers to be at least 21 years old to purchase vape products. Retailers can only sell vaping products that have been authorized for marketing by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and nicotine liquids are subject to a special state tax. Marijuana remains illegal in North Carolina. Beginning in December, most hemp-derived THC products will no longer be allowed to be sold, as well.