As authorities across the country examine a spate of vaping connected illness and death, Wisconsin officials have arrested two brothers alleged to be responsible for a huge counterfeit THC vaping cartridge operation, believed to be one of the largest of its kind in the nation. Tyler and Jacob D. Huffhines, face charges including possession of THC with the intent to deliver, maintaining a drug trafficking place, and identity theft.
The two brothers were buying empty vape cartridges and jars of liquid THC and paying workers to fill between 3,000 to 5,000 counterfeit vaping cartridges each day. At the time of their arrest police found 31,200 cartridges filled with around 1 gram of THC, 98,000 unfilled cartridges, roughly 12.5 gallons of refined liquid THC in 57 glass jars, 18.5 pounds of cannabis flower, loaded guns, cocaine, and three money counting machines.
As noted in the USA Today piece linked below, "Authorities are working with federal agents to determine whether the cartridges are tied to any of the deaths or illnesses across the country that doctors have suspected were tied to vaping."
However, even if this particular operation wasn't responsible for any hospitalizations or deaths, the magnitude of this case demonstrates how large scale and potentially dangerous counterfeit cannabis operations are. This incident underscores the need for the cannabis industry to dedicate itself to anti-counterfeiting efforts. Link to the USA Today article: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/09/17/counterfeit-vaping-cartridge-operation-arrests/2349684001/
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