Kenosha Brothers Arrested For Making, Selling Illegal Vaping Cartridges

Authorities Wonder If Cartridges Are Tied To Vaping-Related Lung Disease

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principal displays vaping devices that were confiscated from students
In this Tuesday, April 10, 2018 photo, a high school principal displays vaping devices that were confiscated from students at the school in Massachusetts. On Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2019, the Vapor Technology Association filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government to delay a review of electronic cigarettes. Steven Senne/AP Photo

Wisconsin authorities are investigating an operation in Kenosha County that manufactured thousands of illegal vaping cartridges.

Police arrested Tyler and Jacob Huffhines after discovering 18 pounds of marijuana, 57 jars of THC oil and around $59,000 in two locations associated with the brothers.

Officers found more than 31,000 vape cartridges each filled with 1 gram of THC — the psychoactive component of marijuana — and labeled as containing less. In total, 98,000 cartridges were found unfilled.

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City of Waukesha Police Chief Dan Baumann said they discovered the operation after parents brought their high school-aged son to the police station after finding one of the cartridges. The police then interviewed students who had been selling the vaping cartridges eventually leading them to the Huffhines.

“If it wasn’t for these parents coming through and holding their son accountable, I don’t think we’d be here today giving you this information and the gravity of this vaping epidemic that’s going on in the nation right now,” Baumann said.

The arrests come after health officials tied vaping to multiple cases of severe lung disease.

David Beth is the Kenosha County sheriff and said during a Wednesday press conference that they are investigating to see if the two are linked.

“We are willing to work with any agency in this country that has lost or seriously hurt somebody to see if our people here in Kenosha County have any responsibility in hurting the hundreds of people throughout the United States,” he said.

The two brothers are both being held in the Kenosha County Jail on multiple charges.

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