An organised crime syndicate in Victoria has been dealt a $400 million blow with authorities recently disrupting an illegal tobacco operation.
Victoria Police, The Australian Border Force and the Australian Taxation Office raided a property in Broadford, 90km north of Melbourne, over the alleged domestic cultivation, manufacture, importation, distribution, and sale of illicit tobacco.
Multiple illicit tobacco crops throughout rural Victoria have been seized and destroyed since February as part of a crackdown by the multi-agency Illicit Tobacco Taskforce (ITTF).
Additionally, the ATO and Victoria Police have seized equipment used for tobacco cultivation and processing along with vehicles, cash and weapons.
More than 283 million cigarettes and eight tonnes of loose leaf tobacco have been seized by the ABF since July 2021, during the syndicate's attempts to import them into Australia.
It is illegal to grow tobacco in Australia without the appropriate excise licence.
The operations in Victoria are not run by farmers and instead are organised by sophisticated criminals who live in local communities, the authorities say.
The syndicate is linked to entities offshore that are of interest to international law enforcement counterparts.
"The sale of illicit tobacco and its links to further criminality, including activities of organised crime groups, can have a significant negative impact on communities and businesses," Victoria Police Acting Commander Peter Brigham said in a statement.
"The profit of illicit tobacco is usually funnelled back to organised criminal syndicates that are involved in drug trafficking and money laundering."
The World Health Organisation estimates illicit tobacco accounts for as much as one in every 10 cigarettes consumed globally.
It comes after four men from another organised crime syndicate were arrested and charged following an operation carried out by the Victoria Police Trident Task Force with support from the ABF ITTF, ABF Investigations and Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission.
Anyone with information is being urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential report online at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au.
