Police rent warehouses to store more than a million seized illegal vapes
Victoria Police is leasing secret storage facilities to house upwards of a million illegal vapes until they can destroy them — a process which will cost $750,000.
Victoria
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Victoria Police is having to lease several warehouses to store more than a million vapes it has seized in the past two years.
And when it receives a court order to green light destroying the evidence, the force will have to spend more than $750,000 from its budget to do so.
The secret storage facilities — the cost of which is unknown — must not be near other buildings due to the risk of the lithium-ion battery in the devices combusting and causing a fire.
“Most vapes are powered by an embedded lithium-ion battery and while acknowledging these batteries are generally safe, there is evidence of lithium-ion battery failures resulting in fires,” a Victoria Police submission to the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee states.
“Given most disposable vapes seized by Victoria Police have originated from unregulated overseas manufacturers, there is a likelihood the device has been manufactured without adequate quality control and therefore is at greater risk of failure.”
The facilities have had to be modified for extra ventilation, have climate control installed and additional security, including CCTV.
“This approach to the evidentiary storage of vapes is not sustainable. A suitable long-term storage solution is yet to be identified.”
Victoria Police is discussing sharing a facility with the Australian Border Force and Australian Taxation Office.
“With an increased focus on illicit tobacco and vapes by serious and organised crime groups, we expect to continue to locate illegal vapes as part of broader criminal investigations,” a Victoria Police spokeswoman said.
“Victoria Police will continue to work with federal and state agencies, including the Victorian Health Department and local councils in relation to the seizure and storage of illegal vapes.”
The Herald Sun has been told it costs the force $75,000 to dispose of 100,000 vapes.
“Since October 2023 and as of December 2024, Victoria Police has seized nearly one million vapes as part of a range of investigations, including those undertaken by Taskforce Lunar and the VIPER Taskforce to target serious organised crime groups involved in the illicit tobacco and vape trade,” the police spokeswoman said.
“For security reasons we’re not able to go into specific detail regarding current storage arrangements, however the increased number of vapes being seized has meant we have had to look at the methods of storage being used including the use of short-term tactical solutions, pending appropriate funding being made available to secure strategic solutions.”
The submission adds: “The cost and logistical complexities of safely storing and disposing of seized illicit tobacco and vapes is a significant impost to Victoria Police.”
Originally published as Police rent warehouses to store more than a million seized illegal vapes
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