Arrested at JFK for Vaping Explosion: Suburban Detroit Business Owner Noor Noel Kestou Held on Bond Ahead of Probable Cause Hearing

Noor Noel Kestou, the owner of a suburban Detroit business that caught fire and exploded, resulting in the death of a man, was arrested at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport as he was about to depart for Hong Kong on a one-way ticket. U.S. Customs and Port Authority personnel took Kestou into custody on March 4th, in Clinton Township building that housed a vaping industry distributor called Goo.

More than 100,000 vape pens were stored at the site, and authorities mentioned that a delivery of butane canisters had been made to the building a week before the explosion. When the explosion occurred, canisters were propelled up to 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) into the air, and over half of the stock was still there when the fire started. One man, Turner Lee Salter, was hit and killed by a nitrous oxide cannister that was thrown through the air by the explosion while he was about a quarter of a mile (0.40 kilometers) away.

Lucido shared that on April 20th they were notified that Kestou was attempting to fly to Hong Kong, but his intentions were unclear. Kestou was the primary suspect due to being the business owner, according to Lucido who also mentioned that he has been released on a $500,000 bond and is required to wear a GPS tether. A probable cause hearing has been set for May 7th in Clinton Township District Court.