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A South Australia-wide illegal vape blitz has uncovered the shocking lengths sellers are going to sell the highly addictive products to children.
Investigators busted one store hiding banned nicotine-loaded vapes in a pizza box while another was caught moving product off-site as officers arrived.
There were 180 businesses checked during an eight-week crackdown.
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Almost 5000 vapes with an estimated street value of more than $100,000 were seized, the vast majority of which contained nicotine.
One business was caught with more than 2000.
One cartridge seized was found to have as much nicotine as three packs of cigarettes.
Nicotine addiction in young children has been found to cause strong cravings, anxiety, irritability and restlessness.
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"Some parents say their kids even have them under the pillow and when they can't sleep at night they wake up and they have to puff on the vape because of that addiction," South Australian Chief Health Officer Nicola Spurrier said.
Twelve businesses were fined up to $1000 each during the blitz, with convenience stores found to be the biggest offenders.
The state government is now considering harsher penalties for offenders.
Health Minister Chris Picton said new laws will be introduced to the parliament this year that will increase the penalties for a wide range of offences under the tobacco and e-cigarette act
The government is also hoping new incoming federal laws, banning the importation of non-prescription vapes, will help stamp them out.
