3 months ago
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Police are investigating a suspicious fire at a tobacco store west of Brisbane, amid fears of an escalation in the nationwide “tobacco wars”.
Emergency services were called to the Brisbane Valley Highway store in Fernvale, about an hour inland from Brisbane, at 3am on Sunday after reports of a fire.
Nine fire crews fought the blaze, which was extinguished about 4.30am.
Emergency services took 90 minutes to extinguish the Fernvale blaze on Sunday.
The fire caused significant damage to the tobacco shop, and adjoining businesses were also damaged.
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A crime scene was declared and an investigation launched, with police appealing for anyone with information to come forward.
The fire could be the latest targeted attack on tobacco stores around the country.
The violent attacks, often involving firebombed or ram-raided stores and said to be carried out by gangs vying for control over the lucrative illegal tobacco market, have become more frequent in the past five years.
In May, two men were badly burnt and a shop was destroyed after suspected arsonists targeted a tobacco store in Browns Plains.
That followed a string of similar attacks across Brisbane, including the firebombing of a Beenleigh tobacconist; a fire and ram-raid on a store in Springwood; and the firebombing of a store in Fortitude Valley.
On Friday, Queensland Health revealed it had seized about 45 million cigarettes, 350,000 vapes, and more than six tonnes of loose-leaf tobacco across the state since last November.
Footage released by Queensland Police on the same day from a store raid in Wide Bay, north of Brisbane, shows a cabinet concealing a secret storeroom filled with more than 5000 illegally imported packets of cigarettes.
A separate video shows huge quantities of tobacco on a table, with stacks of counterfeit Australian packaging nearby.
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