Police on the hunt for group of offenders after Molendinar tobacconist break and enter

Police are hunting for a group of offenders after a tobacco store was raided on the Gold Coast – the latest in a number of similar offences.

Police are hunting for a group of offenders after a Molendinar tobacco store became the latest to be raided on the Gold Coast.

Officers were called to the Olsen Ave property at around 1am on Tuesday, where offenders had smashed their way in through a side door.

Damage was also caused to cabinets at the business but the raiders were forced to flee empty-handed after an alarm and theft prevention devices were activated. They fled in a white Volkswagen hatchback.

The attempted robbery was the latest at a tobacco store in the last four months, with shops in Hope Island, Helensvale, Upper Coomera and Ormeau also targeted.

Several stores have also been targeted in south Brisbane, sparking fears of a turf war among organised crime groups similar to one which has wreaked havoc in Melbourne.

A ute is used to smash into a tobacco store in Ormeau on September 18. Picture: Nine News Gold Coast.

Queensland Police last year set up Taskforce Victor Masher to identify organised crime syndicates behind the illicit tobacco trade.

Commissioner Steve Gollschewski on October 6 told The Courier Mail police had a “specified interest” in crimes linked to tobacco stores.

“There’s suggestions to us that tobacco shops are like a new tattoo ­parlours-type thing, and organised crime will target (them),” Mr Gollschewski said.

“Now, what we do know – it happens all the time – is that organised crime will absolutely target those kinds of commodities where there are significant profits. So of course, we expect that there’s to be elements of this and it’s certainly of interest at a national level.”

Queensland Police Service Commissioner Steve Gollschewski. Picture: Richard Walker.

The crimes come as a study commissioned by Philip Morris concluded that crime gangs were selling about 30 per cent of tobacco products in Australia.

Sources told the Bulletin that profits made by gangs from illegal tobacco sales could be comparable to those from the sale of drugs, although penalties meted out by courts were considerably lighter.

Damage to an Ormeau tobacconist after a raid on September 18. Picture: Charlton Hart.

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Originally published as Police on the hunt for group of offenders after Molendinar tobacconist break and enter