Two illegal immigrants have been arrested and millions of cigarettes seized by investigators targeting an illicit tobacco syndicate operating in Sydney.
The Australian Border Force said on Friday it started an investigation after detecting a consignment of 10 tonnes of illicit tobacco at its Port Botany facility in January, and linked it to three previous consignments.
ABF officers then raided an address in the immigrant-dominated suburb of Auburn on March 9 where they seized 27 pallets of loose leaf tobacco weighing five tonnes, 2.6 million cigarettes, and a pallet of BB guns.
They then detained two men identified as unlawful non-citizens, but the ABF has not made their nationalities public.
At a separate raid in South Strathfield officers seized $263,000 cash, 400 illicit cigarettes, and digital devices.
On March 13 more raids were carried out at Chipping Norton, where another 1 million cigarettes and 17kg of loose leaf tobacco, and Rydalmere.
Superintendent Shaun Baker said: “Illegal profits in Australia often fuel serious criminality here and overseas.
“This operation highlights the ABF’s commitment to shutting down illicit tobacco networks. We are making Australia’s border – and beyond it – a hostile environment for anyone seeking to profit from criminal behaviour, and we will keep applying pressure at every point in the supply chain.”
Investigations are ongoing.
The raids came just a week before a drive-by shooting in Melbourne police say was linked to the city’s ongoing tobacco war.
Up to 60% of all cigarettes sold in Australia are illegally imported, according to the Illicit Tobacco and E-Cigarette Commissioner, and the market is worth up to $8.5 billion a year to the mainly Middle Eastern and Asian crime syndicates who control importations and sales.
The glut of cheap illegal cigarettes flooding the market has resulted in huge profits for the gangs involved, while government excise revenue is falling by tens of billions and smoking rates are increasing, reversing decades-long trends, and billions more are being spent on failing enforcement methods.
Header image: Left, right, ABF officers during the raids (ABF).
