A multi-million-pound international black-market is blighting one of the county's busiest high streets, a KentOnline investigation has uncovered.

Reporter Jack Dyson has found at least five retailers in the centre of Canterbury selling illicit goods that have been surreptitiously shipped in from overseas.

Posing as an e-cigarette user, he visited the businesses along the city's main shopping thoroughfares, where he was sold illegal disposable vapes ranging in price from £15 to £20 last week.

A number of the stores were displaying the devices in their windows, and at one a brazen employee boasted of the high demand he receives for the contraband, before offering our man cut-price deals on others.

The results of the probe have sparked fears punters are in the dark about the chemicals they are inhaling – as none of the goods had been analysed by regulators before hitting shelves.

Julian Silver, who runs branches of Vape Chaos in Folkestone and Ramsgate, told KentOnline: “Because they’ve not been tested, we’ve no idea what the content of these vapes is, so it could be absolutely anything.

“We used to have a shop in Canterbury, but we closed it before the pandemic as our business was squeezed out by those selling illegal products.

“Because we only sell genuine products, we couldn’t compete.

“In Canterbury, you’d have to be blind not to spot these banned vapes – as they’re all on display in the windows. They’re flaunting it.”

The majority of the vapes purchased boasted a liquid capacity of 10ml – five times the legal limit – and none have been checked by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

Experts stress e-cigarettes that comply with UK guidelines tend to offer a maximum of 800 puffs before running empty – but the ones bought by our undercover reporter claimed they could be used 1,500, 3,500 and even 9,000 times.

One of the boxes, which contained a sour apple-flavoured Elux Legend 3,500, had “not for UK market” emblazoned on its side, while another, a Geek Bar Pro, clearly stated “sale only allowed in the United States”.

At one of the rogue retailers, Repair Hub in High Street, a staff member told Jack: “Because this is the first time you’re coming to my shop, I’ll make a deal – I don’t sell to anyone for less than £20, but you came first time so [I’m willing to sell for less].

“I have a lot of new flavours. Most of the people [nearby] don’t sell more than 600 puffs, but in my shop I have even 7,000 puffs.

“I have a lot of customers [for these].”

When workers at the branch of iCrash Mobiles a few doors down from Pizza Hut were told such vapes were difficult to find, one said: “I know, but we’ve got literally everything. Whatever you need, I’ve got.”

It was also one of three shops – along with iRepair and iRepair Tech, both in St George’s Street – that displayed prohibited Elux Legend 3,500s in their shop windows.

Inside the city centre’s second iCrash store, in the old Dorothy Perkins site, staff pulled a tray filled with the oversized products from behind a counter when they served our reporter.

And at the last of the businesses we visited, the iRepair next to a branch of Barclays, one of the shopworkers tore open our purchase - a 9,000-puff RandM Tornado - before telling him to give it a try inside the premises.

Mr Silver believes these products are a “money-spinner” for rogue traders.

“You can spot an illegal vape by looking at the number of puffs,” he added.

“If you go to a genuine vape store, you’ll be told they’re illegal and they won’t sell you one of those products.

“It’s a money-spinner for these shops.”

In all, KentOnline visited nine stores in the city centre.

Among the stores where oversized goods were not discovered was dedicated e-cigarette shop Vape Royale.

When asked if it stocked any items offering more than 600 puffs, staff immediately challenged Jack, informing him such products were against the law.

“You’re looking at this black-market generating millions of pounds per week and at least £100 million a year..."

Mr Silver thinks the “key” to solving the scourge would be to transform the industry into one that’s licensed in a similar way to the sale of booze.

He claims the shops would stop stocking the devices because registering would be “too much hassle”.

UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) CEO John Dunne says he is “yet to come across a high street where I can’t easily find” an outlawed e-cigarette.

“You’re looking at this black-market generating millions of pounds per week and at least £100 million a year,” he added.

“These products are brought into the country illegally either by air or sea by a subset of wholesalers and then sold on to retailers.

“They can be smuggled in or they could be disguised on paperwork as legitimate products.

“Over the last 12 months, Border Force, Trading Standards and the MHRA have been coming together on this issue, and there have been a number of large seizures.”

The maximum penalty for selling such banned items is a custodial sentence of two years and/or an unlimited fine, according to Trading Standards.

But the UKVIA is calling on the government to “massively increase” fines imposed on those selling prohibited vapes.

Mr Dunne is concerned these rulebreakers are drawing customers away from law-abiding firms.

“The only problem is we don’t know what’s in them..."

“Generally retailers that engage in selling illegal items aren’t too careful about who they sell them to,” the UKVIA boss continued.

“But we’ve tested a few of the illicit e-cigarettes ourselves, and haven’t found anything untoward in them – they’re just too big.

“They’re produced for other markets, for instance the US, where the size of the products is totally legal.

“The only problem is we don’t know what’s in them.

"Consumers should buy products that have gone through the MHRA as they’ve had toxicology tests, ingredient registrations and all that.”

Officials from the MHRA have confirmed the products bought during our investigation “are not notified in the UK and are therefore being supplied illegally”.

They stress the agency is working with enforcement teams and trade bodies to remove unlawful devices from the market.

A spokesman for the MHRA commented: "We can confirm that the e-cigarette products KentOnline has flagged with us are not notified in the UK and are therefore being supplied illegally.

"The maximum strength for UK products is 20mg - 2% nicotine content - with a maximum liquid capacity for disposable products of 2ml or 800 puffs.

"To be legally sold in the UK, these products must be reviewed by us to ensure they do not contain banned substances or potentially harmful emissions."

To check a device's compliance, visit the MHRA page cms.mhra.gov.uk/ecig.

Guidance produced by the agency states that if you have purchased a product not found on its website you should return it to the retailer or give it to your local Trading Standards service.

Trading Standards handed investigation findings

KentOnline has passed its findings on to bosses from Kent County Council’s Trading Standards team.

Its principal officer, Oliver Jewell, said: “Illegal products have not been checked by the MHRA, so we don’t know what they contain and therefore we recommend they aren’t used.

“We are actively working with colleagues across the country to tackle the problem particularly at wholesaler and importer level as this is not a local problem.

“Stores have been known to get their hands on these products via wholesalers, internet orders and we have been told of door-to-door sales.

“If any shops are offered illegal vapes in such a manner it can be reported to Trading Standards in confidence.

“It is important to recognise that in general e-cigarettes are a useful aid to those wishing to stop smoking.

“People wishing to quit smoking should not be deterred from using them as an alternative to cigarettes, providing they buy products intended for the UK market.”

Mr Jewell is unable to confirm whether his team will review our findings, as the Enterprise Act prevents Trading Standards from divulging any information or intelligence on pending investigations.

However, he insists his office “collates intelligence from a number of sources and will use information passed to us to advise shops or take further action where appropriate”.

Shop bosses confronted

When KentOnline approached iRepair owner Kabir Singh for comment, the trader initially claimed the newspaper had “made a mistake”.

The businessman insisted his shop – which is sandwiched between Starbucks and Barclays – no longer stocks the products, having been raided by Trading Standards a month ago.

He stated he had “no idea” how the illicit vapes ended up inside his store – which also displayed a number of Elux Legend 3,500s in its window – when Jack visited, stressing “I’ve learned from my mistake”.

“The shop window only has empty boxes,” he said.

“We don’t have any left. I can say to you one thing, if things happened, I learned from my mistake and I really apologise for that.

“I have few things left, I just clear it and I’m not going to sell any more.

“I have a few pieces left to clear – there was too much money I lost.

“I’m in a very bad situation and I’m just trying to survive.”

Mr Singh says “every supplier” stocks the oversized e-cigarettes and that he did not know the products were illegal until he was visited by Trading Standards.

He also claims he has nothing to do with the two branches of iCrash – despite the fact receipts from the shops are adorned with “iRepair” and his phone number.

Staff from iRepair Tech – which is not run by Mr Singh – say they were unaware the Elux Legend 3,500 bought from their premises was illegal.

“We’re always getting notifications from suppliers, so if they sell it here [to us] it seems like you can sell it,” an employee, who asked not to be named, added.

“We’ll try to get our money back from the supplier.

“I believe other shops in Canterbury are selling it – they should [punish] the supplier.

“They are selling it in daylight, it’s not like a black-market.”

The boss of Repair Hub was unavailable for comment.