Overview
- NSW Police, with the ABF and NSW Health, seized about 1.9 million illicit cigarettes, more than 18,000 vapes, 75 kilograms of loose tobacco and five unregistered firearms in a week-long operation across Mullumbimby, Byron Bay and Tweed Heads.
- Four people were charged in the NSW action, including two men accused of possessing commercial quantities of illicit vapes, dealing with proceeds of crime and participating in a criminal group, while a 41-year-old man faces five firearm charges and a 40-year-old woman faces multiple proceeds-of-crime and vape offences.
- The ABF estimated more than $3 million in duty was evaded on the tobacco found in three Mullumbimby storage sheds, and police alleged profits were funneled through local retail tobacconists.
- In WA, AFP and WA Police charged two Perth brothers after August searches uncovered more than four million cigarettes, about 50,000 vapes and nearly 900 kilograms of loose-leaf tobacco across a Wangara warehouse, storage units, vehicles and a home.
- Police alleged the WA haul represented about $8 million in avoided excise and taxes, and investigators cited links to organised crime, with ongoing court proceedings and proceeds-of-crime action flagged.