BANGKOK — Thai police have dismantled a sophisticated e-cigarette smuggling and manufacturing network operated by Chinese nationals, arresting 13 suspects and confiscating hundreds of thousands of illegal vaping devices in coordinated raids.
The Economic Crime Suppression Division executed search warrants on September 9 at a warehouse facility in Bangkok’s Bang Khun Thian district, where Chinese investors had established a clandestine production and distribution center for electronic cigarettes.
Police Colonel Taspoom Charuprachya led the operation that resulted in the arrest of two Chinese managers — Mr. Deng, 27, and Mr. Gao, 37 — along with 11 Myanmar nationals working without permits. Investigators seized 20,000 packaged e-cigarettes ready for distribution, plus manufacturing equipment, liquid storage containers, and raw materials imported from China.
“This warehouse served as a central hub for distributing e-cigarettes and vaping liquids to networks across multiple provinces,” police said in a statement.
The Chinese managers face charges for operating an illegal e-cigarette business, while the Myanmar workers are charged with working without proper documentation. All suspects have been transferred to investigators for prosecution.
In a simultaneous operation, excise officials and Saraburi police raided a rental property in Wihar Daeng district, uncovering an additional 350,000 e-cigarettes being stored and transported from Bangkok’s Khlong Toei Port.
The crackdowns align with the Pheu Thai government’s intensified campaign against e-cigarettes, which have proliferated among Thai youth despite being banned. A 20-agency task force established to combat the problem has confiscated over 1.2 million vaping products in March 2025.
Under current Thai law, buying, selling, or using e-cigarettes carries penalties of up to 10 years imprisonment and fines reaching 1 million baht ($31,575).
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