South Melbourne tobacconist illegally selling smokes imported from Asia

Local tobacconists are flouting Australia’s tough cigarette laws, openly selling smokes illegally imported from Asia.

Suburban tobacconists are openly selling illegal cigarettes, a day after Victoria Police’s Taskforce Lunar announced an unprecedented series of raids across Melbourne.

The Herald Sun on Friday purchased a packet of contraband cigarettes from a shop in South Melbourne, understood to be illegally imported from Asia.

The shopkeeper said the cigarettes, which only had a small health warning, “look prettier” than legitimate cigarettes.

“They’ve been really popular,” he said.

Cigarettes have been required to be sold in plain-packaging in Australia since 2012, under world-first laws introduced by the Gillard government.

The cigarettes purchased by the Herald Sun on Friday cost $20, about half the price of an equivalent packet of a legitimate packet.

The illegal smokes are understood to have been imported from Asia.

The smokes aren’t in plain packaging, which is required under Australian law.

By dodging Australia’s notoriously strict tobacco laws, the illegal organised crime gangs which import and supply the illegal cigarettes to retailers are able to avoid the $1.25 per stick tobacco excise.

Raids on more than 30 tobacco stores across Melbourne this week resulted in the seizure of 524,851 cigarettes – representing a $400,000 profit – and 30kg of loose tobacco, known as “chop chop”.

The raids targeted shops believed to be involved in the sale of illicit tobacco.

Those stores have been at the centre of an ongoing series of firebombings, stemming from disputes between powerful crime gangs which control the import and distribution of illegal cigarettes.

Detective Superintendent Jason Kelly said the crime syndicates had no regard for the harm they were causing.

“We have been clear that this is no longer about simply the investigation of the individual incidents – this is about doing absolutely everything we can to deter, disrupt and dismantle these syndicates.

“This includes the targeting of anyone across Victoria who is involved in the distribution and sale of illicit tobacco, at any level.

“While people’s lives remain at risk due to this heightened criminal activity, we will continue to target these organised crime syndicates and do everything we can to hold them accountable.”