Pam Bondi And Rfk Jr. Travel To The Chicago Suburbs For A Crackdown On Illicit Vape Sales

BENSENVILLE, Ill. — U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. were successful nan Chicago area Wednesday to denote associated seizure operations of illicit vaping income — a move that comes arsenic nan White House has been threatening to send nan military into nan city.

The operation, by nan Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and nan Food and Drug Administration, was executed crossed six states Wednesday greeting and targeted 5 distributors and 9 retailers pinch civilian enforcement action.

Bondi and Kennedy were some coming astatine nan tract of nan largest seizure successful Bensenville, Ill., wherever 600,000 units of forbidden merchandise was seized.

The Department of Justice targeted nan distributors and retailers to halt their alleged distributions of definite vaping products, including illegally-flavored vapes, THC-infused vapes, and products containing 7-OH, an forbidden compound pinch opioid-like effects derived from kratom plants.

The ATF, successful conjunction pinch nan U.S. Marshals Service, carried retired nan raids successful Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey and North Carolina.

In April, nan U.S. Supreme Court upheld nan FDA's ban connected nan trading of flavored vapes not approved by nan FDA. The FDA has said flavored vapes airs a wellness consequence because they could promote young group to usage tobacco.

In August, Bondi directed nan ATF to move guardant pinch a planned cognition aft Kennedy identified illicit vaping products shipped into nan U.S. from China arsenic a privilege for nan wellness department.

The beingness of 2 Cabinet secretaries astatine specified an cognition is unusual, and it took spot 2 days aft nan Department of Homeland Security announced Immigration and Customs Enforcement was launching "Operation Midway Blitz" successful nan city, targeting undocumented immigrants who person committed crimes.

The Trump management has many times threatened successful caller weeks to nonstop successful nan National Guard to combat precocious crime successful nan city.

“Chicago is nan worst and astir vulnerable metropolis successful nan World, by far. Pritzker needs thief badly, he conscionable doesn’t cognize it yet. I will lick nan crime problem fast,” President Donald Trump wrote connected Truth Social past week.

On Saturday, he posted what appeared to beryllium an AI-created image of himself successful beforehand of nan Chicago skyline pinch helicopters, flames and nan building “Chipocalypse Now.”

“‘I emotion nan smell of deportations successful nan morning...’ Chicago astir to find retired why it’s called nan Department of WAR,” the station said.

He's besides delivered mixed messaging, saying successful a power question and reply past week erstwhile asked whether he was going to deploy nan National Guard successful nan city, "I don’t want to mention when, but it’s going to beryllium happening there."

At different points, he's said he'd nonstop them successful if asked to do truthful by Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker.

Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, some Democrats, opportunity nan move is neither wanted aliases needed.

“The president’s absurd characterizations do not lucifer what is happening connected nan crushed here. He has nary thought what he’s talking about,” Pritzker told reporters past week. “There is nary emergency that warrants deployment of troops," he said.

Both Pritzker and Johnson person criticized nan administration for slashing nationalist information funding, including canceling hundreds of millions of dollars successful grants.

Statistics show crime has been down successful various cities, including Chicago. The most caller statistics, show homicides person dropped 31% from past year, while shootings were down 37.4%.