Drayton tobacco kiosk targeted by theives during shopping centre break in

Knives and lighters were among the items stolen from a city tobacco kiosk during a break and enter on Tuesday morning.

The Drayton Tobacco Shop was targeted during an overnight break in. Picture: Bev Lacey

Drayton Tobacco Shop owners Esra and Tahir Kuyar returned to work on Tuesday to find their small store broken apart, with some of the stock strewn across the floor.

“My husband got the shock of his life – there were a few police officers and some of our stuff was smashed on the floor,” Mrs Kuyar said.

“I had taken my baby out at the time, but when my husband called me I drove here.

“Travelling from Middle Ridge to here, just 10 minutes, took forever.”

Located inside the Drayton Central Shopping Centre, the couple had expected the facility’s alarm to provide added security for their store.

“From the (CCTV) footage, the alarm did not go off at 2am when they broke in,” Mrs Kuyar said.

“Only at 4.12am did the alarm start beeping.

“It makes us feel really unsecured, like this could happen at any time again.”

A Queensland Police Service spokesman said initial reports indicated that three offenders had entered the underground carpark at the shopping centre and forced their way through a glass sliding door about 2am.

They had then forced entry to the shelved areas of the kiosk and rifled through the stock, before taking cash, knives and lighters.

“We couldn’t sleep last night, we kept thinking shall we go and check on the shop?” Mrs Kuyar said.

“They seemed really comfortable walking around the centre, sussing everything out.

“We’re going to change all of our cabinets after this.”

Police investigations into the matter are continuing.