Vape raids across Taree find illegal e-cigarettes, land Felicia Machin in court
Raids on tobacconists across the Mid-North Coast prompted one worker to close the shop doors and try to get away with a trolley full of vapes. Here’s what happened when she faced Taree court.
Mid-North Coast
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As raids took place at tobacconists across the Mid-North Coast, one female worker closed a shop’s doors and tried to get away with a shopping trolley full of vapes.
Felicia Louise Machin faced Taree Local Court on November 7, where she pleaded guilty to the sale of a restricted substance by a non-wholesaler.
Police suspected CTC Chatham Tobacconist, like many others under investigation in the area, as paying staff in cash to avoid detection by the taxation office, according to documents tendered to the court.
Inspectors from the NSW Health and police have received numerous complaints about stores on the Mid-North Coast selling illegal e-cigarette products to children in recent months.
These products can contain harmful chemicals such as nail polish remover and weed killer police state in court documents.
An inspector from Hunter New Area England Health visited the Chatham store in a covert capacity and purchased an Iget Bar Plus vape from Machin for $20 about 2.30pm on September 13.
It was advertised as having five per cent nicotine content.
Nicotine for human use used in such a way is classified as a Schedule 4 (prescription only) medicine and can only be supplied by a registered pharmacist to people with a valid prescription from a doctor.
Machin, who is 50-years-old and lives in the Wauchope area, is not a registered pharmacist.
The inspector was not asked to produce a prescription.
A short time later the inspector returned with police officers.
They found the doors had been shut and Machin was about to walk out of the shop with a shopping trolley full of Iget branded vapes.
Police believe she had received a tip-off from their chain store in Taree, which was being inspected by other officers.
Officers seized 206 e-cigarettes from the shop with a street value of at least $7210.
Machin was convicted and fined $400.
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