Hectorville tobacco shop firebombed

Police have seized hundreds of cigarettes from a Glynburn Rd shop after the business was hit attacked on Friday, in what is allegedly the latest salvo in Adelaide’s tobacco wars.

Boxes of cigarettes have been carted out of a Hectorville tobacco shop after the business was firebombed in the early hours of Friday morning.

Just after 5.30am on Friday morning, police and MFS were called to Glynburn Rd after reports of a fire at a small business.

When MFS arrived, the suspicious blaze had been extinguished with minor damage caused to the front of Puff Station.

It’s understood the quick-thinking owner of another business quicky grabbed a fire extinguisher after a Molotov cocktail was hurled at the window – preventing the flames from spreading.

A Hectorville business owner saved another business from going up in flames after a Molotov cocktail was thrown at the window. Picture: Sam Lowe

Puff Station’s blackened windows and doorstop bore the brunt of the damage.

Peter Munari, 63, is a part owner of a block of shops, one of which is leased to Puff Station, and said it was “terrible stuff” but that “anything to do with tobacco these days, it’s a given”.

“I wish it wouldn’t have happened,” he said.

South Australia’s tobacco wars have reignited with three suspects on the run after a firebomb attack at a Hectorville store. A nearby business owner spotted the blaze as he arrived for work, grabbing a fire extinguisher and putting out the flames before they could spread. #7NEWSpic.twitter.com/TH8akNiPAR

— 7NEWS Adelaide (@7NewsAdelaide) February 21, 2025

“We always thought something like this could happen, but we thought, you know, give it a go we see what happens. Luckily, it didn’t spread.”

Nearby shop owner Romeo Micarone “thankful” the fire was stopped when it was.

“It’s pretty devastating stuff really,” he said.

“My wife was getting the call as she was driving to work this morning.

The blackened and broken windows of Puff Station. Picture: Sam Lowe

“These are the sort of things that are starting to happen nowadays.”

Crime scene investigators went to the scene on Friday, with police bagging and tagging boxes of cigarettes.

A total of 10 moving boxes were packed with other items seized from Puff Station.

Police said the firebombing was “subject to ongoing investigation under the auspices of Operation Eclipse”, a police task force set up to investigate the illicit tobacco market.

Eclipse, led by Detective Chief Inspector Brett Featherby, has made major breakthroughs and arrests since commencing work on September 15.

Most recently, the taskforce, working with Consumer and Business Services (CBS) illicit tobacco task-force officers, seized illicit cigarettes, vapes, tobacco and nicotine pouches with a street value of more than $1m during a raid on a store in Adelaide’s northern suburbs earlier this month.

At least 548,000 cigarettes, 12,000 vapes and more than 500 containers of nicotine pouches were discovered in the most recent seizure.

Police are appealing for anyone with information about the fire, or any suspicious vehicles or activity in the area, to come forward.

You can report it anonymously to police via Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or online at www.crimestopperssa.com.au.

Originally published as Hectorville tobacco shop firebombed