The illegal mega-vapes every parent needs to know about as ‘tornado’ pens found in Birmingham area

Illegal mega-vapes packing a punch of 100 cigarettes can be bought by children online – and are now littering the streets of Birmingham.

R and M’s Tornado 9000 devices were found strewn across the ground in Yardley Wood, an area recently blighted by trouble from ‘disrespectful’ yobs. With their blue and pink packaging, emblazoned with a cartoon, may appear childish and harmless, however the illicit pens mega-vapes contain as much nicotine as 100 cigarettes.

Read more: Life in area rocked by ‘disrespectful’ youths who ‘threaten locals’ and race quad bikes

The vapes, dumped alongside silver gas canisters known as ‘hippy crack’, littered the grass during a visit to the area by BirminghamLive. For around £15 per vape, the devices deliver nicotine eight times cheaper than other legal disposable vapes.

R and M’s website – which is based in China – carries out no age verification checks during checkout, a Mirror investigation found. The “rainbow candy” flavour version contains 18ml of liquid, nine times more than the maximum size allowed in the UK.

The liquid also had 5 per cent – or 50mg per ml – of nicotine, significantly more than the 2 per cent maximum allowed in the UK. During the Mirror investigation, in which they purchased the vapes, the device was delivered to the UK by Royal Mail less than a month after it was ordered.

No age checks took place on delivery, the Mirror reported. The customs declaration, completed by “Abby” before the package left China, clearly stated it contained a “Tornado 9000”. Yet the parcel was not intercepted, with no indication it was opened.

John Dunne, director general of the UK Vaping Industry Association, told the Mirror: “This is a backdoor for illegal vapes into the UK. Technically, the retailer in China is breaking UK law, but what is going to happen to them?

“As far as I am aware, consumers can purchase products from outside the UK but do run the risk of them being seized by customs. It is also technically legal for companies to import these types of products if they are for resale out of the UK and EU.

“This is a loophole we want closed down which could be done by requiring companies doing that to use bonded warehouses.”

Have you been affected by this? We would like to hear from you. You can contact us by emailing stephanie.balloo@reachplc.com