Organised crime syndicates smuggling ‘low risk’ tobacco leaf and cigarettes into Australia
ORGANISED crime syndicates trafficking drugs like ice and cocaine are now smuggling tobacco leaf and cigarettes and funnelling the cash back to terrorist groups.
With government taxes on tobacco set to rise again in May’s federal Budget, black market tobacco leaf and cigarettes are now as profitable as narcotics.
And such is the “low risk high return” market, Federal law enforcement now have credible evidence monies from tobacco trafficking are supporting terrorist groups in the Middle East.
Lead national crime fighting agency Australian Border Force intelligence has flagged a noticeable shift in the pattern of trafficking of tobacco which is rising exponentially, in ordinary postal mail alone by 10 to 15 per cent every year.
Related Posts
More than 600m illicit cigarettes seized by HMRC in six months
Between April and September 2015, hundreds of millions of cigarettes and 137...
Fake goods valued at $6.5M seized in Toronto
'Unsafe' knockoffs included Viagra, cosmetics, contact lenses Police in...
2,500 tonnes of fake food and drinks found in just two months
More than 2,500 tonnes of illicit or fake food, including mozzarella,...
Tobacco smugglers caught entering Valencia
GUARDIA CIVIL officers have confiscated 3,500 packets of tobacco and have...