A man with organised crime links has been charged after he allegedly assaulted a tobacconist owner before firebombing the store.
Police allege a man went into a Fortitude Valley tobacconist, in Brisbane, about 3.30am on December 26 and assaulted the store owner who was working at the time.
He left before allegedly returning and throwing a device into the store that exploded, sparking an extensive blaze.
The man's clothes caught on fire but he continued to flee the scene, allegedly in a stolen car.
The car was later found burnt out at a Wolfddene address.
Police carried out a search warrant at an Ormeau home on Thursday and arrested a 34-year-old man.
He has been charged with a range of offences including arson, stealing, assaults occasioning bodily harm, and possessing explosives (ammunition).
The man will face Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday.
Detective Superintendent David Briese says the man is a member of an organised crime syndicate who was trying to send a message to the tobacco store.
"We allege he was attempting to make some sort of statement to the owner of the tobacco store in terms of financial gain and expectation and when the store owner fought back, the device was thrown in and damage caused," Det Briese told reporters on Friday.
Police will investigate whether the man has been involved in any other incidents but called the attack "desperate".
"It shows the desperation of what some of these people are willing to do," he said.
Det Briese said there are a number of criminal organisations in Australia attempting to have illicit tobacco sold through convenience stores for financial gain.
"When people refuse to do that, what we saw on December 26 occurs," he said.
Victoria has been facing a long-running illicit tobacco war with more than 125 fires involving tobacco stores being investigated and police arresting over 100 people.
Most recently a van rammed and set fire to two tobacco stores at Springvale in Melbourne's southeast.
The fire is being treated as suspicious and investigators suspect an attempted arson attack at the same stores in October was linked to their sale of illicit tobacco.
