Illicit tobacco shops shut in Cairns to open 72 hours later
A co-ordinated crackdown on a booming illicit cigarette trade across Far North Queensland this week has coincided with a tobacco mule walking on serious charges after allegedly being busted with $260,000 and 100kg of chop-chop.
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A co-ordinated crackdown on a booming illicit cigarette trade across Far North Queensland this week has coincided with a tobacco mule walking on serious charges after allegedly being busted with $260,000 and 100kg of chop-chop.
The skyrocketing cost of cigarettes has created huge demand for illicit cigarettes that can be sold for a quarter of the cost of products on which no duty is paid.
Hiking the cost of cigarettes while failing to adequately invest in enforcement is costing the government up to $10bn a year in lost excise.
The Far North is playing its part in the budget blackhole through an explosion of retail outlets trading in plain sight and meeting a hungry demand for illicit tobacco products and vapes in a flouting of the law that’s gone largely unchecked.
Tuesday night’s budget revealed the federal tobacco excise will generate about $7.4bn this year in a halving of what was projected in 2021-22.
On the same day Cairns shops allegedly peddling illicit tobacco were raided by Queensland Health officials assisted by police officers.
Signs in shop windows declared an “interim closure order”.
But rather than being shut down for evading government excise or selling alleged illegally imported products, shops were closed for a 72 hour period due to a “suspicion” the outlet was supplying smoking products without a licence after the Queensland government introduced a licensing scheme to “help monitor compliance with laws” in September last year.
A retail licence costs $474.88.
Legitimate North Queensland tobacconist Pam Wright has waged a years-long campaign to stamp out the black market trade and is now at her wit’s end at a failure of authorities to stop the illicit supply of smoking products.
“Our takings will go up 25 per cent while they are closed, it will make no difference unless they clean the place out and let the landlord know what is happening and their business is taking the (alleged) proceeds of crime,” she said.
“(One store) has been raided three times in the last six months and they are still open and trading.
“The police came and loaded vans with illicit products and (operators) pulled up and they were restocked within five minutes of the police leaving the business.”
Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch said he rang the police and urged officers to return to the shop but it’s unclear whether further action was taken.
“I’ve written to the Treasurer and the ATO, I have sent them photographs of businesses that are trading and a photo of a container full of illicit tobacco, it’s sending local business broke,” he said.
“They are quite blatant, they know they can get away with it and the small (legitimate) businesses are being driven to the wall.
“It raises questions, they stick out like a sore thumb and yet they have been operating and growing in numbers in Cairns for a long time.
“I can see the same thing happening with alcohol, I can see the exact same operation by criminal elements.”
This week Health Minister Mark Butler announced an additional $156.7m for enforcement of the illicit tobacco trade.
“This substantial investment will give law enforcement agencies the funds they need to take the fight to criminals,” he said.
On Tuesday a man who was busted by police in 2023 with $260,000 in currency and 100kg of illegal chop-chop worth about $100,000 had his matter heard in the Cairns Magistrates Court.
Mostafa Jamal Al-Deleymi was facing charges including possession of tainted property and possession of illegal tobacco charges, however no evidence was supplied by the prosecution. It’s unclear the reason for charges being dropped.
Al-Deleymi was sentenced to nine months’ jail, immediately released on a recognisance order of $100 for nine months in Townsville District Court on March 11 after pleading guilty to being in possession of illegal tobacco in excess of 100kg.
On February 8 in 2023 Al-Deleymi was stopped in Ingham by police driving a van in which 176,400 individual cigarettes were found hidden in cat food packages.
Queensland Health was contacted for comment but were unable to provide a response before deadline.
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Originally published as Illicit tobacco shops shut in Cairns to open 72 hours later
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