A staggering number of illicit cigarettes have been seized, along with bank accounts, $5 million in assets and a luxury vehicle in a major tobacco bust by Australian Border Force officials.
On Monday, the ABF announced an enormous transnational organised crime network (TSOC) had been “disrupted” from allegedly facilitating large-scale importations of illicit tobacco products.
On August 25, joint taskforce detectives executed search warrants in Blacktown, Pennant Hills, Sydney and Barangaroo.
Across the four locations, ABF officers seized 3.4 million illicit cigarettes valued at approximately $5.3 million.
In the Australian Capital Territory, a Bentley Continental worth about $500,000 was restrained, as well as two residential properties in Lawson and Bruce.
Eight bank accounts, five luxury handbags and a collection of evidentiary and electronic material were also seized.
The total value of the assets seized were valued at well over $5 million.
“Two unlawful non-citizens identified at the warrant location were subsequently detained and transported by ABF officers to Villawood Immigration Detention centre pending review of their visa status,” an ABF statement said.
The operation began following intelligence referred by the ACT Policing Criminal Assets Investigations Team (CAIT) concerning logistics, transport and storage companies.
The companies were discovered to be part-owned by a Chinese TSOC network, suspected of distributing illicit tobacco to other criminal groups across Australia.
The criminal network is suspected to be one of the main Australian-based entities behind the attempted importation of most of the 112 containers of illicit tobacco which were seized throughout the first half of this year.
Investigations into the TSOC network and their criminal activities remain ongoing.
The ABF said further disruption of the criminal organisations was expected.
ABF Assistant Commissioner Targeting and Intelligence Operations Penelope Spies said the Australian coalition of law enforcement agencies worked closely with their Chinese counterparts to disrupt the illicit tobacco trade.
“This exceptional result would not have been possible without the close and enduring partnership between the Australian Border Force and the Anti-Smuggling Bureau of General Administration of China Customs, and I thank them for their continued support,” she said.
“We use comprehensive and trusted targeting intelligence – including from offshore partners and international referrals, that allow us to target specific containers and consignments to ensure our resources are focused where they will have the greatest impact.”
Since July 1 last year, the Anti-Smuggling Bureau of General Administration of China Customs has shared intelligence with ABF officers offshore which has resulted in the detection of more than 89 million cigarettes and 11 tonnes of loose-leaf tobacco.
Anti-Smuggling Bureau of General Administration of China Customs Deputy Director General Wang He said the joint operation had effectively cut off a major smuggling route of illicit tobacco into and via mainland China.
He said the bureau was committed to cooperating with the ABF and other international partners to combat cross-border smuggling activities to protect the integrity of global trade.
Extracted in full from: https://www.news24.com.au/national/crime/major-bust-disrupts-chineseowned-crime-network-as-border-force-seizes-500k-car-two-properties-and-millions-of-illicit-cigarettes/news-story/247ba23a94ec69ad094982d4dd3d0c65
