Border Force intercepts over half a million cigarettes hidden inside furniture at a Brisbane warehouse. The investigation uncovered a suspected criminal syndicate with ties to Australia Post contractors, who were importing cigarettes to evade taxes and selling them through convenience stores.
More than half a million illegal cigarettes hidden inside furniture have been intercepted at a warehouse in Brisbane. A suspected criminal syndicate with alleged connections to Australia Post contractors was busted by Border Force at a storage facility in Eagle Farm on Wednesday, December 11. More than 586,000 Marlboro and Double Happiness cigarettes were located, with many hidden inside fake ottomans.
Border Force says the raid followed a sprawling investigation into hundreds of deliveries to non-existent addresses over several months. More than 16,000 packages weighing more than 111 tonnes were imported by the group between June and October this year – evading taxed worth about a quarter of a billion dollars. At least seven Australia Post parcel delivery contractors have been stood down following the investigation. “The syndicate in question appears to have circumvented our border processes by co-opting trusted insiders,” acting Border Force commander Troy Sokoloff said. The investigation also revealed many convenience stores in the CBD and surrounding suburbs were selling illegally imported cigarettes under the counter – or sometimes in plain sight.“They’re illegal … I don’t know where we get them, I’m not the manager,” one seller told this masthead. Almost all stores sold Manchester cigarettes, and many also stocked Chinese brand “Double Happiness”, Korean brand “ESSE”, imported “Marlboro Reds” and “Winfield Blues” among others. Prices ranged from $17 to $25 a pack – about 50 percent cheaper than most legitimately taxed plain-packaging equivalents. More than 5.2 million cigarettes and 1.2 tonnes of loose tobacco were seized from Queensland retailers in a 12-week blitz from July. About 8500 illegal vapes and 12,000 nicotine pouches were also found. It has been told at least 350 retail businesses across Queensland are under investigation by Queensland Health, which is responsible for enforcing tobacco regulations
Cigarettes Illegal Trade Border Force Australia Post Criminal Syndicate
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