Find an abandoned vape on the ground? It's probably from China: Former ATF Agent says it's 'terrifying' the CCP 'has a hand' in illicit vape trade making up 100% of devices found thrown away in nation's capital

It was a rainy, overcast day in southeast, Washington, D.C., as workers sifted through public trash cans, gutters and streets in search of nicotine products.

The street cleaners and their supervisors were conducting a study to find out what products - either tobacco or vape-based - the community had been consuming. 

It was the researchers' final day digging through trash around the district and the miles-long slog through the slurries of rain Wednesday culminated a week that produced pounds of cigarette and colorful e-cigarette packaging.

The results were shocking. 

Every vape product collected by the team on Wednesday - 100 percent - were made in China and illegally sold in the U.S.

Bao'an District, Dongguan City and Guangming District are just some of the foreign localities where the devices originated before traveling over 8,000 miles to D.C. 

WSPM Group researchers conducted a study in Washington, D.C. over the past weeks to determine what nicotine products district residents are consuming

The research firm collected both tobacco and vape-based products from 84 different neighborhoods around the district

Out of all of the e-cigarette devices collected Wednesday all of them - 100 percent - were manufactured in China and illegally sold in the U.S. 

The study was conducted by WSPM Group, an international market research firm, that has done similar studies across the globe for the last two decades. 

The company's founder Daniel Touati, confirmed in a statement to DailyMail.com: 'Indeed a very high percentage (if not all) are Chinese products most probably smuggled into the USA.' 

None of the vapes recovered Wednesday were approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).  

Their study included 84 different neighborhoods in D.C.  

Former ATF agent Peter Forecelli, who attended the study on Wednesday, said he was shocked that all of the recovered vape products were made in China. 

'With these vaping products, we don't know what they're putting in there,' Forcelli exclusively told DailyMail.com. 'And when we consider what they're putting into counterfeit pills that they make, it's actually quite terrifying when you think about it.'

'It's not comforting to see these profits going into the hands of Chinese entities because we know the Chinese government has a hand in every company.' 

He said that he is concerned because 'there's no regulation' in China regarding e-cigarette manufacturing.

'I mean, what are they breathing into their lungs?'

And the FDA might not know the answer to that question.  

To date, the FDA has only approved 23 vape devices for legal use in the U.S.

Despite this, illegal foreign manufactured vapes abound in U.S. bodegas, gas stations and corner stores.

These e-cigarette's ingredients, health impacts and implications are unknown and untested. 

Last year, DailyMail.com even found that a store just 250 yards from the FDA headquarters was selling kid-friendly watermelon and bubblegum flavored illegal vapes. 

The illicit vape devices mostly came from the Chinese provinces of Guangdong and Shenzhen

Workers scan the streets of D.C. for vape and tobacco debris

Many lawmakers have taken note of the booming illegal market and have sent letters to the FDA seeking guidance on why they are allowing the wholesale distribution of the illicit goods. 

'Law-abiding American companies wait years, spend millions of dollars, and comply with strict restrictions on flavors and marketing in order to gain FDA approval for their products,' Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., wrote to FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf, M.D. in February.

'Meanwhile, unscrupulous Chinese companies send shipping containers full of illegal e-cigarettes into our country every day, right under the nose of the FDA and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).'

'FDA’s attempts at enforcement have proven totally inadequate,' he continued.

Democrats have also been alarmed by the proliferation of illegal vape devices. 

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., also wrote a letter to Califf, saying, 'there is absolutely no reason why FDA continues to permit unauthorized e-cigarettes to remain on store shelves.'

'FDA has the tools and the authority to clear the market of unauthorized products today, yet the agency instead is granting a free pass to scores of vaping products that are harming the health of children in our country,' Durbin continued. 

Another letter written by House lawmakers to the FDA stressed the impact the illegal vapes are having on America's youths. 

'Deeply concerning to us, in 2023, 10 percent of high schoolers and 4.6 percent of middle schoolers, or 2.1 million youth, used e-cigarettes,' the bipartisan coalition of lawmakers wrote. 

They also mention how flavored nicotine vape devices are banned in China. 

'An estimated 90 percent of illicit vaping products without pre-market authorization arrive in the United States from manufacturers in [China], where flavored vaping products have been banned since 2022 for the Chinese domestic market.'

Elf Bar disposable vape flavored vaping e-cigarette products are displayed in a convenience store in June 2023. The FDA has announced fines for retailers selling the devices in February 2024

In response to a request for comment, an FDA spokesperson sent DailyMail.com past agency press releases on recent enforcement actions cracking down on illicit vapes.

It is unclear if FDA Commissioner Califf has responded to the lawmakers. 

Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Dick Durbin did not return a request for comment.