Secret tobacco storeroom revealed in police raid
Queensland Health revealed today it has seized about 45 million cigarettes, 350,000 vapes and more than six tonnes of loose-leaf tobacco across the state since November last year.
A newly released police video from one raid in Wide Bay, north of Brisbane, in March shows a cabinet concealing a secret storeroom filled with well over 5000 illegally imported cigarette packets.
A separate video shows huge quantities of tobacco on a table, with stacks of counterfeit Australian packaging nearby.
It comes amid government efforts to curb off-the-books sales, with harsher penalties and additional powers for health authorities announced in May.
Last year this masthead revealed importers were flooding the Queensland market with more illegal tobacco than ever before.
Brisbane Times visited 10 convenience stores and tobacconists across multiple suburbs in November 2024 – all openly sold Manchester cigarettes, and many also stocked illegal Chinese brand Double Happiness, Korean brand ESSE, imported Marlboro Reds and Winfield Blues, among others.
Prices ranged from $17 to $25 per packet – about 50 per cent cheaper than most legitimately taxed plain-packaging equivalents.
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