NEDERLAND, Texas — Southeast Texas has seeing an uptick in vape shop thefts during the last a number of months.
The suspects are most commonly after vape and fit to be eaten merchandise that include Delta-8.
Nederland Police say thieves input the smoke retail outlets, clutch up to they may be able to after which take off. After this, they’re going to promote those merchandise to minors.
Four Nederland vape retail outlets had been hit in two months.
One of the ones places being “Vape City.”
“They’re just coming in and grabbing up as many vapes, or the gummies, that have THC in them. They take them and sell them on the internet or sell them to their friends,” Nederland Police Chief Gary Porter stated.
Porter says witnesses describe the thieves as most commonly younger males hiding their identities.
“I’m pretty suspicious there are probably some teenagers. A good many of them wear these hoodies and pull them down over their faces, and they’re hard to recognize,” Porter stated.
21 is the criminal age to shop for vaping or fit to be eaten merchandise containing Delta-8.
But it is minors who turn into the patrons when the stolen items hit the streets.
“Common sense will tell you what they’re doing is selling them to the people who can’t legally go buy them,” Porter stated.
Employees at “The Plug” vape shop in Nederland say they have got had their occasional random shoplifter, however there may be little the malls can do out of doors of surveillance.
“We I.D. everyone that comes in here as long as you look under the age of 40. We absolutely send minors away,” Sales Representative Kassidy Duplant stated.
While Duplant’s retailer has no longer been focused, she consents with Chief Porter.
“I think it’s absolutely people that want to go and sell it to minors because they can make a bigger profit off of it,” she stated.
At the top of all of it, Porter says there may be not anything the ones minors can acquire from eating the stolen merchandise
“This stuff is dangerous. You don’t know what it’ll do to you. If you’re a young person, you never know what it’ll do to you when you turn 30 years old, so I would advise them to not do it,” Porter stated.
Nederland Police say they are sifting thru surveillance video and asking if someone has any information to assist investigators, they may be able to touch the police division at (409) 722-4965.
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