The fake Cork vape shops sending strangers to innocent people’s front doors

Unsuspecting residents have found their homes listed online as businesses selling illegal drugs through encrypted messaging services

In some of the vape shops marked on Google Maps, people can buy more than vapes. File photo: Nicholas T. Ansell/PA

In a sleepy, settled area of The Lough in Cork City, one address stands out on Google Maps. Alongside a long stretch of residential homes, there is a vape shop that lies in complete isolation.

It’s not just the typical vape shop now embedded in the popular imagination — the gaudy shopfront accompanied by tacky branding and a collection of rainbow coloured disposable vapes — this one is different.