Australian law enforcement agencies have made some of the largest and most valuable seizures of illicit tobacco on record, amid an outbreak of violence linked to the trade and another firebombing of a Melbourne retailer.
Victorian police have said an ongoing turf war over tobacco shops – which has seen a series of stores targeted – is largely being fought by underworld figures, including outlaw motorcycle gangs and Middle Eastern organised crime groups. In some cases stores with no direct links to the underworld have also been targeted for extortion by crime gangs.
On Wednesday morning a store in the Melbourne suburb of Hadfield became the latest to be have been set alight.
According to annual reports released last week, the Australian Border Force (ABF) and Australian Crime and Intelligence Commission (ACIC) noticed a surge in seizures at the same time as multiple states were seeing firebombings and shootings with suspected links to underground tobacco syndicates.
In 2022-23, the ABF seized more than 2,000 tonnes of tobacco for the first time, although the number of individual seizures was down.
That was a huge increase on the 1,600 tonnes recorded the previous year, and almost eclipsed the total for the three years before that combined.
The ABF-led illicit tobacco taskforce also detected 168 instances of revenue evasion worth around $522m, the annual report said.
The ACIC’s annual report showed $79m worth of illicit tobacco was seized in 2022-23, the highest value for annual seizure since records started in 2017-18.
The rise in seizures recorded by both agencies could be an indication there is a glut of tobacco in the market. Former law enforcement sources said a similar glut in relation to cocaine corresponded with an increase in gun violence linked to the trade in Sydney earlier this year.
Victoria police are investigating about 30 incidents of violence linked to the illegal tobacco trade since March this year.
These instances include suspected attacks on owners where syndicates have made threats to “earn or burn”, that is, make money for the syndicate by selling their illegal product, or have their shop firebombed.
There have also been instances of shops being targeted because they are owned by rival syndicates, police suspect.
Among those charged with the incidents are suspected members of the Finks outlaw motorcycle gang.
The Hadfield fire is the first suspected attack reported to Victorian police in three weeks, a rare lull in the violence given an incident linked to illegal tobacco had been recorded every week dating back to mid-August.
The same store had been targeted in August.
A police spokesperson confirmed they were investigating if the fire was “linked to a series of arson attacks on tobacco stores dating back to March this year”.
Similar arson attacks have also been reported recently in Queensland and Western Australia.
The ABF’s annual report said it remained “committed to supporting the government’s efforts to crack down on illicit tobacco, which is viewed by organised crime as a low-risk, high-reward venture”.
“We continue to build on success achieved through our international engagement to develop joint operational lines of effort that disrupt the transnational supply of illicit tobacco in source and transhipment countries.”
An ACIC spokesperson declined to comment on the reasons for the record seizure, referring Guardian Australia to statements the agency made in April last year about illicit tobacco.
