Six people have now been charged by the Australian Border Force over their alleged involvement in a highly-organised tobacco smuggling syndicate that was operating through Melbourne International Airport.
Three Chinese nationals were arrested in January over their alleged involvement, and another two from China were identified as couriers and charged with importing tobacco products with the intention to evade revenue on March 2.
Officers also arrested and charged a 31-year-old Chinese female on June 7, and charged her with possess and convey tobacco products.
The Australian Border Force (ABF) also alleges that between June 2017 and May 2018, a further 94 individuals were detected arriving at Melbourne Airport with illicit tobacco and have since been deported from Australia.
ABF Commander of Investigations Graeme Grosse said the long-running investigation has had a significant effect on the illicit tobacco market in Victoria.
“We are definitely seeing a large amount of illicit tobacco being seized in Victoria and we believe we’ve dismantled a criminal network that was a major player in the market and that was making significant profits from this activity,” Commander Grosse said.
“We expect to be able to target more of these operations with the stand-up on 1 July of the ABF-led Illicit Tobacco Taskforce, which will combine our resources with that of the Department of Home Affairs, ACIC, AUSTRAC, CDPP the ATO.”
The maximum penalty for tobacco smuggling is ten years imprisonment. Penalties of up to five times the amount of duty evaded can also be imposed by the courts.
Share
