Richmond’s ‘Operation Vaporize’ cracks down on illegal vape shop activity

A new Richmond initiative is cracking down on vape shops that are engaging in illegal activities. 

To date, ‘Operation Vaporize’ has shut down 18 of 30 vape shops around the city that it has inspected after finding the businesses lacked necessary city permissions, were violating the building code or had illegal drugs, guns and money. 

The Richmond Police Department has estimated there are now more than 90 vape shops operating throughout Richmond, in both poorer and wealthier parts of the city, many of which are essentially acting as fronts for thriving drug operations. 

“It’s way out in the open,” said RPD Chief Rick Edwards. “I’m on the news maybe three times a week, and I could probably dress down and walk into one of these shops and say, ‘Give me some flower.’ And they’d probably sell me some weed.” 

Operation Vaporize, which has been ongoing for several weeks but was formally unveiled Friday at City Hall, is the city’s latest effort to contain the proliferation of the stores. 

Officials have zeroed in on vape shops both because they see them as marketing illegal and potentially harmful products to children and because they have become hotspots of crime. A third of all commercial robberies in the city this year have occurred at the businesses, often through violent “takedown-style” operations, and they have garnered widespread complaints from residents.  

Earlier this year, the City Council passed an ordinance that prohibits the opening of new vape shops in most of Richmond by forbidding them from being located within 1,000 feet of a residential neighborhood, school, park, public library, church, child day center or another vape store. 

The ordinance, however, does not apply to existing vape shops, even if the business is engaging in illegal activity. 

“Many vape shops that already existed are grandfathered in, and so we’ve got a lot more work that we need to do to try to address this issue,” said Mayor Danny Avula on Friday. “Our communities have been asking for more attention, for stronger enforcement, and for us to act in ways to curb these illegal activities. And absolutely our communities deserve that.” 

Operation Vaporize aims to fill that gap through the creation of a coordinated task force involving the Richmond Police Department, Richmond Fire Department, planning and code enforcement teams and the Finance Department, which collectively are carrying out inspections to ensure the shops are following all of the city’s rules.

Those that are not are “placarded,” a process where officials shut down the business and post a no trespassing notice on the door declaring the building unsafe.

“We are working to make sure that operators are compliant with zoning code, compliant with code,” said Planning Director Kevin Vonck. “We’re also bringing in our partners in Finance to make sure that [you’re paying] your business license, paying your taxes.”

So far, the inspections have found that most are not in compliance: Of the 30 that have been inspected, eight had no certificate of occupancy — a document that anyone who wishes “to engage in a business or profession” in the city must obtain — while 10 others did have a CO but had safety violations that Vonck said required them to be shut down. 

In total, inspectors with the Planning, Fire and Finance departments found 274 violations at shops. 

Rampant criminal activity was also detected through a series of 17 search warrants executed by the Richmond Police Department that turned up 31 illegal firearms, over 100 pounds of bulk marijuana and illegal THC products and over $60,000 in illicit currency. 

According to police, one such raid of Pop’s Smoke Shop at the corner of Chamberlayne Avenue and Overbrook Road, found four firearms, one equipped with an auto-sear — a device banned by the state that converts a semi-automatic firearm into an automatic one —  as well as 20 pounds of marijuana and $10,000.

Searches of the Let’s Smoke Vape Shop at 102 West Broad Street and five private residences found 19 firearms and 4.5 pounds of marijuana, and led to conspiracy charges against five people. And the seizure of 30 pounds of marijuana from 24/7 Tobacco at 3923 Hull Street produced a charge of maintaining a fortified drug house.

Edwards said police have found ties between some shops and organized crime networks. 

“You have people that are essentially just selling illegal product,” he said. “They’re using storefronts to do it, and it is easier for our kids to walk into one of these shops and buy marijuana than it is for them to go to a traditional convenience store and buy beer.” 

Not all of the 18 stores that were shut down as a result of the inspections are likely to remain closed.

Vonck said “there’s a high likelihood” that the eight closed for lacking a certificate of occupancy will be permanently shut down because they will be subject to the new ordinance restrictions when they apply for one. But the other 10 would be allowed to reopen if they resolve the violations flagged by city officials. 

Edwards acknowledged the city has struggled to keep some bad actors from rapidly reopening. 

“We have had our SWAT teams kicking in doors at these places, we’re arresting the clerks and the business is back open the next day,” he said. “That’s very frustrating to the community.” 

As a result, the city is using “drug blight” powers granted it under state law to force property owners to take steps to stop criminal activity from occurring on the lots they own. 

“I don’t know that this answer of the drug blight is going to be the answer, but I’ve got to believe holding the owners of the structures accountable for what happens on their property is going to be a long-term solution,” said Edwards. 

Both he and the mayor’s office have said other business owners who are operating by the book have thanked officials for the crackdowns. 

“There’s nothing more frustrating for honest business owners who are paying their taxes, who have business licenses and [certificates of occupancy] and go through the trouble of all that only to see their neighbors just putting up a shingle on a place they rented with no interaction with the city and not doing the right thing,” Edwards said.

Contact Reporter Sarah Vogelsong at svogelsong@richmonder.org