Operation Vapor Trail — The Onslow County Hemp Raids

Last verified: April 2026

The April 3, 2024 Raids

Operation Vapor Trail was a coordinated, multi-agency enforcement action staged across 71 vape and tobacco shops in six NC counties. Participating agencies included the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), and local agencies in Onslow, New Hanover, Jacksonville, Hope Mills, and Wilmington.

Reported seizures from the operation:

The raids targeted retailers selling intoxicating hemp products — Delta-8, Delta-9, THCA flower, and related cannabinoids — that the operating retailers maintain are legal under the federal 2018 Farm Bill and N.C.G.S. § 90-87(13a). For background on the product-class definitions, see the field guide.

The December 6, 2024 Federal Lawsuit

On December 6, 2024, a group of affected shop owners filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina (EDNC): Saleh et al. v. Onslow County Sheriff Chris Thomas and Lt. Jay Floyd.

The complaint alleges:

• Unlawful search and seizure in violation of the Fourth Amendment.
• Discriminatory targeting of Middle Eastern–owned shops, in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal-protection guarantee.
• Forensic methodology problems. Plaintiffs allege that the sheriff’s office used gas chromatography testing methods that decarboxylated THCA into delta-9 THC during analysis, distorting the test result and producing apparent Schedule I marijuana from what plaintiffs say was lawful hemp.
• Stated intent. Lt. Floyd reportedly stated that the operation’s goal was to “shut them down and run them out.”

Plaintiffs are represented by Abraham Rubert-Schewel of Tin Fulton Walker & Owen. Litigation remains pending as of April 2026.

Why the Gas-Chromatography Allegation Matters

THCA decarboxylation is the chemical process that converts the non-intoxicating acidic precursor (THCA) into delta-9 THC under heat. Smoking, vaping, baking — and, critically, laboratory analysis using elevated-temperature gas chromatography (GC) — can all trigger this conversion. The federal hemp threshold tests delta-9 THC by dry weight on the raw sample. If a lab method decarboxylates THCA during analysis, the “delta-9” reading captures both the original delta-9 and the converted THCA, producing a result that is not directly comparable to the statutory threshold.

The plaintiffs’ complaint frames this as a methodological violation, not just a policy disagreement. The competing testing standard — liquid chromatography (LC), typically HPLC — does not heat the sample and is widely accepted as the appropriate method for measuring delta-9 THC against the hemp threshold. Resolution of this point in Saleh could have implications well beyond Onslow County.

Plaintiffs allege that defendants used gas-chromatography testing protocols that decarboxylate THCA into delta-9 THC during analysis, producing test results that overstate delta-9 content and misclassify lawful hemp as Schedule I marijuana.

Saleh et al. v. Thomas, EDNC complaint (Dec. 6, 2024), as reported

AG Jeff Jackson’s Posture

NC Attorney General Jeff Jackson, sworn in January 1, 2025, has taken a visibly anti-loophole posture on intoxicating hemp:

• Testified before the NC House Select Committee on Oversight in support of regulating intoxicating hemp under state law.
• Joined 38 attorneys general in an October 2025 letter to Congress urging closure of the federal Farm Bill loophole that produced the intoxicating-hemp market.
• Personally advocated for the Senate-rewritten version of HB 328, which would impose 21+ purchase, licensure, and a $25,000 manufacturer fee. See 2025 NC Hemp Bills.

Jackson’s posture is regulatory rather than enforcement-driven. His public framing has emphasized that “regulation” — not raids — is the appropriate response to the intoxicating-hemp market. The AG’s office has not been a defendant in Saleh.

Aftermath

Several of the raided shops reopened; some did not. Industry advocates have cited Operation Vapor Trail in legislative testimony as a reason regulated alternatives are urgently needed. Civil-liberties organizations have flagged the methodology and targeting allegations as test cases for nationwide hemp-enforcement practices.

The case is one of the highest-profile civil-rights actions arising out of intoxicating-hemp enforcement anywhere in the United States. Whatever the outcome, it has sharpened the national debate about how local agencies should approach a federal product category that state law has not addressed.

Explore the Hemp Wild West

Official Sources

• NC Department of Justice (AG Jackson)
• Onslow County Sheriff’s Office
• U.S. District Court, Eastern District of NC