Senate GOP warns Chinese vapes could be used by CCP to spy on Americans, launder cartel cash
FIRST ON FOX: A group of Senate Republicans warned the Trump administration that floods of "illicit Chinese e-cigarettes" entering the country carried a darker side effect.
Several Senate Republicans alerted Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in a letter first obtained by Fox News Digital that the Chinese government was reaping massive profits from the devices.
And given that connection between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and China's State Tobacco Monopoly Administration (CSTMA), it’s possible that so-called smart vapes could be used as spying devices.
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The lawmakers charged that the "highly sophisticated" vapes had the ability to connect to a person’s cellphone and have become extremely commonplace.
"These devices have the capacity to initiate data breaches or malware infections and can also access and collect sensitive user data," they wrote. "Given the interconnected relationship between Chinese industry and state intelligence services, the targeting of U.S. military personnel with these devices raises profound national security concerns."
President Donald Trump made the crackdown against Chinese vapes one of the many side quests that his administration pursued last year, going so far as to try and crush the supply of the devices at ports across the country.
Last year, for example, the Trump-led Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the capture of roughly $90 million worth of vape products from China in one fell swoop.
The lawmakers, which included Sens. Steve Daines, R-Mont., Thom Tillis, R-N.C., Tom Cotton, R-Ark., Katie Britt, R-Ala., Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and nine others, lauded Trump’s "aggressive, multi-agency enforcement actions" against the influx of vapes, but noted that the "magnitude and consequence requires a comprehensive strategy and response."
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It’s not just a spying threat either.
The Republicans contended that the funding generated by the sale of vapes could be funneled toward military or technological initiatives in China meant to undermine American interests.
They also noted that the vapes have been linked by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network to Mexican cartels, specifically using the devices and operations as a money laundering front. That trade-based money laundering scheme, the lawmakers said, was part of a plan to move fentanyl proceeds on behalf of the cartels.
"Given the scale and severity of this threat, we urge the Treasury Department and USTR to use their respective enforcement and diplomatic authorities to combat illegal Chinese e-cigarettes," they wrote.