New Orleans-area suspects arrested; products seized in crackdown on illegal vapes

BATON ROUGE – A state task force arrested four people and confiscated tens of thousands of banned substances in the second phase of a statewide crackdown on illegal and unauthorized vape products.

Operation Vape Out II was a month-long enforcement effort focused on vape product retailers in the New Orleans area. The task force consisted of the Louisiana Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control (ATC), Louisiana State Police (LSP) and the Louisiana Office of the State Fire Marshal (OSFM).

The operation, which ran from July 8 through August 7, seized 13,433 items including illegal vapes, unauthorized CBD products, tainted sexual enhancement products, nitrous oxide, kratom and narcotics such as marijuana, psilocybin and tianeptine.

The operation resulted in four arrests:

NAME	LOCATION OF ARREST	CHARGES
Brad R. Issa	Smoke Sum 926 Canal Street New Orleans	Possession of Schedule 1 narcotic Possession of a firearm
Saadna Mohamed Labeid	ZaZa Vape Shop 6 305 West Esplanade Ave. Kenner	Possession of kratom Possession of marijuana Possession of psilocybin Transaction involving proceeds from drug offenses Resisting an officer Refusal to identify/providing false identity Detained by ICE
Mahmoud Al-Soudani	Out Smoke 1 2805 Williams Blvd. Kenner	Possession of psilocybin
Shady Abu-Hamad	Vape On 2505 Williams Blvd. Kenner	Possession with intent to distribute Schedule I narcotics (kratom)

In addition to the arrests and product seizures, OSFM issued 62 citations for safety violations and ATC issued 110 citations and one emergency license suspension.