RESEARCH ALERT
Some vapes use added chemicals to create a cold or icy feeling. New research has raised concerns about three of them: WS-23, WS-3 and WS-5. We do not yet know how common they are in Wales.
Information / Illegal products & sales
Illegal tobacco & vapes in Wales: what to know and how to report
You do not need proof. You do not need to know every rule. You should not investigate or confront a seller. If you are trying to work out whether a product itself looks suspicious, see our guide to warning signs of illegal cigarettes and vapes.
Share what you know anonymously and help build the local picture.
Last reviewed: 5 October 2026
WHAT HELPS?
Small details are useful.
A shop name, location, seller, online account, product, price, delivery pattern or concern can all help.
No evidence bundle required. Report what you saw or heard and leave the investigating to enforcement teams.
What can I report?
If you are unsure whether something breaks a rule, that is okay. You can still share the concern.
Illegal tobacco
Suspected counterfeit, smuggled, non-duty-paid or otherwise illicit cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco, including unusually cheap products or hidden sales.
Vapes or nicotine products
Banned single-use vapes, products that may not meet UK rules, unusually strong or unfamiliar products, or sales that simply raise a concern.
Underage or proxy sales
Concerns about tobacco, vaping or nicotine products being sold or supplied to children or young people, including an adult buying products for them.
Online, social or other drug-related sales
Social-media accounts, delivery sellers, online sales, or concerns about suspected cannabis/THC or synthetic cannabinoid products being sold alongside or as vapes.
You are reporting a concern, not proving a case
Do not buy a product just to test it. Do not follow a seller. Do not challenge a shop or online account.
If you know a location, account, product, price, time, pattern or anything else useful, share that. Enforcement teams decide what happens next.
What community reports have shown
No Ifs. No Butts. reports are community intelligence, not a prevalence measure. They show what people chose to report and can help enforcement teams identify patterns.
What the numbers mean: they count reports received. They are not a count of unique sellers, confirmed offences, prosecutions, seizures or the share of the market that is illegal. The same location or concern may be reported more than once.
882
reports recorded in 2022–2025
Across Wales through No Ifs. No Butts.
271
Welsh reports in 2025
The highest number of reports received in any year during the 2022–2025 reporting period. That does not by itself show that illegal activity increased by the same amount.
51.7%
of 2025 reports flagged underage sales
Share of reports that mentioned or flagged underage sales. Community reporting data, not population prevalence or a confirmed-offence rate.
The rules are changing
From 1 October 2026, Vaping Products Duty applies at £2.20 per 10ml of vaping liquid, including nicotine-free liquids. New duty stamps are starting to appear on retail vape packaging. Retailers can sell unstamped stock they already held before the scheme started until 31 March 2027, so an unstamped vape during this transition is not automatically proof of illegal sale.
From 29 October 2026, the age of sale will be 18 for all vaping and nicotine products, with new proxy-purchase and promotional restrictions.
From 1 January 2027, tobacco products cannot legally be sold to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009.
You do not need to work out whether one of these rules applies before making a report.
Why reporting helps
One report might look small on its own. Information from different people can reveal repeat locations, sellers, accounts or patterns.
A report does not guarantee enforcement action, but it can add an important piece to the local picture.
NEW RESEARCH • 2026
New social-housing evidence on illegal tobacco
8% of social-housing respondents said they may have bought tobacco that was smuggled or untaxed in the previous 12 months, compared with 3% across Wales in the same survey.
This is self-reported survey evidence. It is not an estimate of the size of the illegal tobacco market and should not be compared directly with No Ifs. No Butts. report counts.