Topic analysis

Police running out of room to store illegal cigarettes they’ve seized amid Australia’s booming illicit trade

Australian federal police (AFP) report secure storage facilities for seized illegal cigarettes and vapes are at capacity, with destruction costs reaching up to $13 per kilogram for vapes—making large-scale disposal prohibitive. A parliamentary inquiry into the booming illicit tobacco trade has heard the industry cost the federal budget $6bn in lost excise in six months, fuels broader criminal activity including money laundering and firebombings, and has prompted calls for new offences and bans on political donations from tobacco manufacturers.