Teenager accused of arson attack on shop linked to WA’s illegal tobacco market

2 months ago 14

A teenage boy will appear in Perth Children’s Court in the new year, accused of carrying out an arson attack on a Baldivis convenience store police have linked to the state’s booming illegal tobacco market.

Detectives charged the 17-year-old from Nollamara over the fire that engulfed the store on Settlers Avenue on Monday morning.

One man has died after being knocked off a bike.

Police allege the teenager approached the shop in a car about 5am, ignited the front of the shop and then drove away.

Two people were inside the building at the time but were not injured, a WA Police spokesperson said.

Emergency services were called and extinguished the blaze, which damaged the front of the shop.

“Inquiries indicate the premises is linked to illicit tobacco products,” the police spokesperson said.

The 17-year-old has been charged with criminal damage by fire and two counts of no authority to drive. He is set to appear in Perth Children’s Court on January 6.

WA Police’s Taskforce Maverick, which was set up to tackle the spate of arson attacks on businesses linked to the illegal tobacco trade, is investigating the latest incident.

It comes after WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch said police believed a shooting at a Ballajura shop and another arson attack in Maddington earlier this month were “stand over” tactics deployed in response to a crackdown on the state’s tobacco underworld.

Blanch said there had been “significant action” taken against organised crime groups involved in the illicit trade, and “we have taken out some key players who are currently in custody”.

“We certainly know after significant disruption to organised crime figures here in Western Australia, including significant wealth and asset seizures, all of a sudden we’ve had a number of … [what] would appear to be retaliation attacks,” he said at the time.

“That is a classic organised crime tactic, and we won’t tolerate that here in Western Australia, so we’re going to go hard after those people, wherever they may be.”