$1 million, five tonnes: WA family charged over alleged role in ‘tobacco syndicate’

1 month ago 16

A West Australian family has been charged over their alleged roles in an organised crime group helping to sell tonnes of illegal tobacco and vapes.

Federal police raided homes, storage units and a tobacconist in Perth’s southern suburbs and in the south-west of the state on Thursday.

Three people – a 26-year-old man, a 68-year-old man, and a 47-year-old woman – have been charged and tonnes of tobacco and tens of thousands of vapes have been seized during a major Australian Federal Police operation in Western Australia’s South West and Peel regions.

Officers seized about $1 million in cash, five tonnes of tobacco products and almost 30,000 vapes.

A woman, 47, her father, 68, and her son-in-law, 26, were all arrested and charged over the seizure, which was the result of a four-month operation aimed at cracking down on the sale of illicit tobacco.

On raiding the woman and her father’s homes in Coodanup and Eaton, police allegedly found two cash counting machines, and $800,000 and $240,000, respectively, from both properties.

“[Australian Federal Police] seized the cash from both homes as suspected proceeds of crime, after the man and woman allegedly did not provide reasonable explanations about the legal source of the money,” an AFP spokesperson said.

The woman’s son-in-law was arrested separately at a shopping centre in Bunbury and charged after he refused to hand over access to his mobile phone to police.

Officers searched his Australind home and allegedly found illicit cigarettes and vapes.

The AFP said a search of storage units in surrounding suburbs also uncovered more illicit tobacco.

“Police allege if the products seized yesterday had been distributed illegally, it would have avoided millions of dollars in Commonwealth excise and taxes,” a spokesperson said.

The woman was arrested at her home on Thursday.

AFP Commander Renee Colley said there needed to be a “whole-of-community commitment to changing the perception and acceptance of illicit tobacco”, following a number of fire bombings throughout Victoria and Western Australia in recent weeks.

“The illicit tobacco trade is directly linked to acts of violence in our community, and these crimes are executed by organised crime groups in their pursuit of power and profit,” Colley said.

“I am sure the community feels outraged that these groups are putting people’s lives and livelihoods at risk for the sake of profit.”

The woman and her father have been charged with dealing in the proceeds of crime, while her son-in-law has been charged with failing to comply with an order.

“Investigations are ongoing, including inquiries into links to broader organised crime syndicates being directed by individuals offshore and assets linked to the illicit tobacco trade,” an AFP spokesperson said.

The AFP said it had seized almost $4 million in cash, about 13 tonnes of illicit tobacco and charged 10 people in WA over the last year in connection to tobacco syndicates.

The arrests come as WA police runs its own Taskforce Maverick, which was established in response to the escalating “tobacco war” violence.

Some stores across WA have been repeatedly targeted by thugs attempting to intimidate shop owners into selling their brand of the product, with some businesses firebombed up to four times in recent months.

Operation Maverick has charged 11 people with a combined 51 offences, including criminal damage by fire, stealing, traffic and drug offences.

The state government is currently working on reforms to strengthen its tobacco laws, with the penalties for selling illicit tobacco or vapes in WA still among the weakest in the country.