With Australia’s demand for black-market tobacco surging in recent years, driven by steep tax hikes on legal products, authorities have announced a new multi-agency taskforce set to target the organized criminal networks behind it. The Illicit Tobacco National Disruption Group, led by the Australian Border Force, will unite federal, state and territory police with agencies including AUSTRAC, the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, the ATO, and Services Australia.
Backed by almost A$190 million ($124 million) in new funding aimed at dismantling smuggling and distribution operations, the crackdown will examine every stage of the supply chain, from pre-border smuggling to warehouse storage and local street sales. The taskforce will focus on mid-level criminals who import, distribute, or sell illegal tobacco, while also targeting financial flows that sustain the trade. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said the coordinated approach was vital as illicit tobacco networks were increasingly tied to broader organized crime.
“The same criminal groups are involved in organized tobacco, arson and the drug trade,” Burke told the ABC’s Insiders program. “If there’s a cohesion of threats and a convergence of threats, there needs to be a convergence of protection in responding.”
