WASHINGTON — Florida’s self-proclaimed “King of Vape,” who has a history of anti-Israel advocacy, is in the hot seat as lawmakers and officials try to throttle his distribution of illicit e-cigarettes manufactured in China.
Taher Shriteh — who was found by an Israeli court in the 1990s to have been aiding Hamas while working as a journalist in the Gaza Strip — is the cofounder of Safa Goods, one of the largest vape distributors in the US.
Established in 2018, Port Charlotte, Fla.-based Safa sells Chinese-produced, popular brands — including enticing flavors like the “Graham Twist” Raz disposable vapes — in more than a dozen “King of Vape” retail stores along Florida’s Gulf Coast.
The wholesale vape distributor was sued last month by New York Attorney General Letitia James, an elected Democrat, for “illegal and fraudulent business practices” that “targeted underage users.”
Safa is also listed as a US partner of the e-cigarette brand GeekVape, which has its headquarters and production facilities in Shenzhen, China, the complaint filed Feb. 20 in federal court states.
Safa and the other distributors have been “illegally perpetuating a cycle of harm from the old tobacco industry’s playbook: hide the harm and use appealing colors and flavors to hook kids for life,” James’ complaint notes, citing sweet-sounding branding like “Strawberry Donut” and “Iced Watermelon.”
Former Florida attorney general Ashley Moody, now a US senator announced last week that she’s also coming for the illegal flavored products during a hearing with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director-designate Marty Makary.
“As a mom and former Florida AG, protecting our children from illicit vapes is a top priority of mine,” Moody said.
“These things are all over the United States, in convenience stores. They’re readily available to children. If you walked in any one [convenience store] right now, you would be able to find them.”
Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Sunshine State legislature have also been cracking down on some of the kid-friendly products, in addition to the FDA.
The state led the country in illicit vape sales in 2023, according to data from the Florida Retail Foundation lobbying group.
Before Shriteh became a purveyor of products in smoke-filled rooms, he was a freelance reporter in Gaza who contributed to outlets like Reuters and the New York Times.
In February 1991, however, an Israeli judge found that Shriteh “crossed the line in his work as a journalist” and “became an activist for a terror organization” by reporting out information from a Hamas leaflet to readers, the Times reported at the time.
Some of Shriteh’s other scribblings were compiled in the 2003 book “Beyond Intifada: Narratives of Freedom Fighters in the Gaza Strip,” which covered the violent uprising of Palestinians against Israel beginning in 1987.
Ahmed Shriteh, a relative of Taher who serves as a director of Safa, previously worked at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) — an organization to which the US halted all funding after it was revealed several of its employees helped Hamas carry out the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that killed 1,200 people..
Another for-profit corporation that Taher and Ahmed run as president and vice president, respectively — US TMC, Inc. — has been owned by a parent corporation located in Gaza since 2000, according to Florida state records.
Reps for Safa did not respond to a request for comment.
