Crime syndicates turn up heat to force tobacco shops to shut

A wave of arson attacks is heating up Victoria’s tobacco trade turf war as organised crime gangs order operators to shut up shop or risk being burnt out of business.

Organised crime gangs have forced some tobacco shop operators to choose between closing their doors or being burnt out of business.

Industry sources say those who are firebombed would almost always be approached and told to cease business before syndicates take the next step.

The closure orders are frequently carried out by “minions” sent by bikie gangs who are affiliated with the tobacco crime syndicates, the source said.

A scorched tobacco shop on West St in Hadfield. Picture: David Crosling

“You could get a visit and, initially, it will be ‘close down’. Some of them do close and some sell up,” the source said.

Those who elect to remain open are likely to have their store firebombed, he said.

Victoria has been dogged by tobacco trade turf warfare this year as established players involved in Middle-Eastern organised crime try to protect their market share.

There has been a wave of 20 tobacco store arson attacks in Victoria since March 24, leaving a combined damage bill running into millions of dollars.

A tobacco store at Young St, Moonee Ponds, was linked to underworld figure Sam ‘The Punisher’ Abdulrahim. Picture: Instagram

Some stores have been hit multiple times, including one at Young St, Moonee Ponds, which was linked to underworld figure Sam “The Punisher” Abdulrahim.

Other repeat blazes have been at premises in Watton St, Werribee, and another at Station St, Oakleigh.

The only country shops set alight were at Wodonga and Wangaratta in the state’s northeast.

In some cases, businesses not connected to the tobacco trade have been burned as flames spread beyond the targeted building.

A firebombed tobacco store on West St, Hadfield. Picture: David Crosling

Many of the incidents have involved vehicles being driven to the front door and set alight using a flammable liquid.

The attacks have invariably happened in darkness, late at night or early in the morning.

Police fear that it is a matter of time before someone sleeping upstairs or next door is killed.

The Herald Sun recently revealed there were now 1000 shops involved in the illicit tobacco trade, up from about 50 five years ago.

A burnt out car inside a tobacconist on Station Street Oakleigh. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

A burnt-out vape shop on Puckle St in Moonee Ponds. Picture: David Crosling

One theory for that extreme growth is that there are no licensing requirements regulating who can and can’t sell tobacco products.

That has opened the door to massive profits for the outlaw sector who are buying cheap product from overseas then selling it here at massive mark-ups or growing their own tobacco at farms in rural areas.

The biggest syndicates have valuable interstate connections.

In one case, a huge load of stick cigarettes valued at millions of dollars was stolen in Melbourne, allegedly by members of a prominent crime family.

It was then taken to a factory before being trucked to Queensland and sold in shops there.