Sellers targeted B.C. minors via Snapchat to sell nicotine and THC vaping products, police say
Police on Vancouver Island have busted a vaping operation where nicotine- and THC-filled e-cigarettes were sold to youth at middle and high schools.
On Wednesday, Saanich police officers showed media a vape pen with a large dose of THC – the chemical that produces a marijuana high – seized as part of an investigation into a clandestine ring selling such products.
Const. Rob Winter, of the Saanich Police Department's Street Crime Unit, says some of the items seized contain "very high amounts" of THC – up to 98 per cent.
Officers began investigating after receiving a tip last November that adults were selling vape products to minors in public places.
Const. Markus Anastasiades said over the next several months, police observed people attending schools in Saanich and Greater Victoria.
Anastasiades added they were "selling vape products to minors on school grounds, in the parking lots at malls and in public spaces such as parks."
On Friday, police raided a business and seized more than $100,000 worth of goods. Among the items seized were vape products with flavours seemingly targeting young people, according to officers.
Anastasiades said it was concerning.
"These are banned substances," he said. "We can think of them much like tobacco products, if people were selling cigarettes, tobacco to youth at schools."
He added the sellers would contact kids primarily on the social media platform Snapchat, then bring vape pens and liquids to meet-up spots at schools and malls, disguising the products in food delivery bags or plastic containers. The sellers even had point-of-sale machines so kids could tap and go.
Stores can't sell to those under age 18, but it's unclear if any law was broken.
"This is a federal statute, not a criminal code offense," Anastasiades explained. "So there's agencies, external federal agencies that will be looking at this file that we've already consulted with."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge U.S. to prosecute the company
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.