Operation Eclipse: What’s really going on in Adelaide’s fiery underground tobacco war

South Australia’s black market tobacco trade has descended into chaos with a spate of firebombings across the city. Police say this is why.

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The recent spate of arson attacks plaguing South Australia are part of a war being waged by interstate organised crime syndicates pushing their way into the state’s lucrative illicit tobacco trade, the state’s top cop says.

Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said on Wednesday that special taskforce Operation Eclipse was now targeting three primary syndicates vying for the “lion’s share” of the illicit tobacco market.

“There are three organised crime syndicates believed to be involved in this particular activity and we are strongly of the view that these interstate organised crime syndicates are pushing their way and expanding into the South Australian market,” Mr Stevens said.

“(They are) not specifically outlaw motorcycle gangs – these are organised crime syndicates based in Victoria and Queensland – and there is one group in South Australia that we are targeting as well.”

Police Commissioner Grant Stevens on the state’s lucrative illicit tobacco trade. Picture: Dean Martin

Operation Eclipse headed by Detective Chief Inspector Brett Featherby has been working alongside Victoria Police, Australian Border Force and Consumer and Business Affairs investigators.

Detectives from SAPOL’s Serious and Organised Crime Branch and other specialist areas conducted a series of raids on Wednesday morning on a private residence, as well as several businesses and a storage facility.

A 34-year-old Blair Athol man, suspected of being a key player in the arson attacks, has been arrested.

Mr Stevens said he hoped the arrest would send “a very strong message to the people who are involved in perpetrating those offences and organising those offences” in the tobacco trade.

The Blair Athol man has been charged with four counts of money laundering and police will allege the charges relate to alleged activity associated with illicit tobacco sales.

He has been refused bail and will appear in Port Adelaide Magistrates Court on October 17.

Following this arrest, detectives and Consumer and Business Services (CBS) attended three business – which were allegedly associated with the Blair Athol man – at Hendon, Queenstown and Rosewater.

A storage facility at Salisbury Downs was also searched.

Items seized included a significant quantities of loose tobacco, packaged cigarettes and vapes valued at $358,955. Detectives also seized documents, electronic devices, CCTV and a hard drive.

Detectives from SAPOL’s Serious and Organised Crime Branch raided a private residence, several businesses and a storage facility as part of Operation Eclipse. Picture: SA Police

Detectives from SAPOL’s Serious and Organised Crime Branch raided a private residence, several businesses and a storage facility as part of Operation Eclipse. Picture: SA Police

However, Mr Grant said he understood the difficulty of curtailing the trade.

“The reality is the risks associated with importing and selling illicit tobacco are far outweighed by the profit,” he said.

“These criminal networks have established premises in South Australia so they’re looking to ensure that they are getting the lion’s share of the market or leveraging some form of payment from those stores that are not selling their product.”

This comes after local smoke shops owners received a fresh wave of threatening texts from individuals connected to the underworld tobacco market after their infiltration attempts failed.

Some of the messages included “You have 24 hours … family, houses are all greenlight now” or “war is no problem for us, we are ready”, 7NEWS reported.

If SA Police is unable to halt the illicit trade. there are fears of serious escalation in the underground conflict.

When asked if there is a possibility of the tobacco arsons escalating to shootings, as has been observed in Victoria, Mr Stevens said it was a real concern.

“Absolutely there is a risk of these type of activities escalating to acts which are more likely to cause harm to individuals and we’re very concerned about that,” he said.

“The arson we are dealing with most recently at Cowandilla I think highlights the risk to the community. There were resident living in the very near vicinity of that particular arson.

“The risk to life is real and we are treating these offences as serious offences that require as much effort as we can put to it.”

Originally published as Operation Eclipse: What’s really going on in Adelaide’s fiery underground tobacco war