RICHMOND, Va. — A wave of burglaries is hitting Richmond vape shops that were shut down as part of a city enforcement operation — and some shop owners believe the crackdown may be fueling the very crime it was designed to prevent.
Since December, 67 businesses have been inspected through Operation Vaporize. In many cases, those shops were cited with safety violations in addition to lacking business licenses or certificates of occupancy.
Data compiled from Richmond Police and the Department of Planning and Review shows there have been 19 vape store break-ins so far in 2026 — compared to just 20 for the entirety of 2025. Of those break-ins this year, 16 involved 12 vape stores that were shut down by Operation Vaporize, with the majority of those break-ins happening in the past two weeks.
Dean Alasaad, a Yemeni community activist, said the shutdowns are leaving stores vulnerable.
"It's a double whammy. You get shut down and your store gets broken into," Alasaad said. "The yellow sticker is an invitation, come and break the store because nobody is in there."
Among those affected is Zakarya Maqshar, operator of Green Stop Convenience, whose shop was hit for the third time since it was shut down in January, with the most recent incident happening last Wednesday.
"I don't have funds in my personal or my business and I haven't paid my car note, no mortgage, so that's bad credit. And now with this, I don't know what I'm going to do to be honest with you," Maqshar said.
Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards acknowledged the trend, even as overall commercial burglaries are down about 19% for the year.
"As soon as we started seeing a trend of these vape shops being targeted for burglaries, you know, we certainly started trying to address that as well," Edwards said.
Of the 12 stores that were broken into, 11 had unsafe notice violations. Seven had both valid business licenses and certificates of occupancy. Three stores had at least a business license or a certificate of occupancy, while 2 stores lacked both a business license and a certificate of occupancy.
Edwards said he stands by the operation.
"My interpretation of it is, I think every business should be expected to meet the basic needs of what every other business does. You should have a certificate of occupancy. You should have a business license. If you don't have a business license, you're not paying taxes. So I think having those basic expectations of every business in our city is normal," Edwards said.
Shop owners with the Yemeni American Association have alleged discriminatory targeting, saying they don't believe the number of shops shut down in their community is normal. They have since sought legal counsel.
Edwards pushed back on those claims.
"So I think that the fact that they just maybe are dominating this space is why there's an outsized interaction with them. We're not, we don't know the nationality of anyone who owns a store. We're just going — we tallied up the 97 vape shops, and we're systematically going there to ensure that they have their paperwork in order. Many, almost all of them, don't," Edwards said.
Edwards said the goal of the operation is compliance, not closures.
"The goal isn't to placard buildings, the goal is for people to be in compliance," Edwards said.
Police have already made at least one arrest in connection with the break-ins.
"We started to see a little spike in commercial burglaries, because obviously the clerks aren't present. So we've started patrolling those areas. We just made an arrest Sunday night of someone breaking into a vape shop on Chamberlain Avenue. And we're very close to solving some of these more recent cases," Edwards said.
Edwards said he expects all businesses to be held to the same standard once inspections resume, while also pointing to the broader community demand that drove the operation.
"But this has been an outcry from our community, from every part of our city, from all nine council districts. People are complaining about this, and so it's something we felt compelled to address," Edwards said. "We're committed to making sure that every business has a fair shake in the city. I'm meeting with them, along with the mayor, on the 24th of this month, where we're going to sit down with that specific group and talk through ways that they can get back open, but they have to abide by the rules, just like every other business,."
Talks between shop owners, the city, and the mayor are scheduled for March 24, approximately one week before inspections are set to resume.
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