Melbourne tobacco wars: Craigieburn tobacco shop torched in alleged arson attack

Fire crews have rushed to douse a blaze at a makeshift Craigieburn tobacco shop after yet another apparent arson attack in Melbourne’s raging tobacco wars.

A tobacco shop on Bridgewater Rd Craigieburn was destroyed in an overnight arson attack. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

A tobacco shop in Melbourne’s north has been torched in what appears to be the latest attack in Melbourne’s raging tobacco wars.

Police and firefighters were called to the Craigieburn shop at the corner of Smeaton Court and Bridgewater Rd about 3.30am on Saturday, where a caravan was engulfed in flames.

The pop-up caravan was in the car park of a smoke store that was completely destroyed in an attack earlier this year.

Police believe offenders set a caravan alight to cause the blaze. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Firefighters worked quickly to bring the blaze under control by 3.34AM.

Police said the offenders have not yet been identified.

No one was in the caravan at the time.

It is believed the same business was targeted in January.

The tobacco store was operating out of a caravan at a Craigieburn carpark. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

The attack comes after the Herald Sun reported a massive tobacco stockpile with suspected links to exiled crime boss Kazem Hamad had been seized in a raid on a Craigieburn storage facility.

Organised crime investigators from the Lunar taskforce swooped on the Hume Highway business where they uncovered the haul.

“The warrant was executed as part of a broader ongoing investigation into the organised crime syndicate, which is linked to a person currently based overseas,” a Victoria Police statement said.

More to come.

Originally published as Melbourne tobacco wars: Craigieburn tobacco shop torched in alleged arson attack