Australia's soaring cost of cigarettes is presenting lucrative opportunities for international organised crime groups who are turning to illicit tobacco as a "low risk and high reward" trade.Law enforcement organisations say crime cartels are using illegal tobacco as a platform for further illicit activities
"As the cost of legal tobacco products continues to rise through frequent increases in excise, serious and organised crime groups are taking advantage of the opportunity to make more illicit profits," ACIC CEO Mike Phelan told the ABC. Since 2016, nicotine consumption has been monitored by the ACIC as part of the National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program, with data suggesting overall consumption has remained relatively stable in Australia despite growing taxation on legal products.
Police ministers from across Australia have agreed to consider "enhanced efforts" to tackle illicit tobacco.
The idea of illicit tobacco is absurd. 'These cancer sticks are not government sanctioned!'
Taxing smokers, raising the pension age, more pokies; that's how Labor rolls.
More people are victims of alcohol related crimes in a week than have ever been victims of tobacco related crimes. Only one is taxed at over $1100/kg and treated as a menace to society. It's not about health it's about banning something some people don't like.
Government tobacco porn laws were the thin edge of the wedge leading to covid health porn mandates. They just pull laws out of some orifice cos we let them. Law porn .......get used to it.
Pretty simple solution, destroy capitalism.
So criminals don't tax people and they're the bad guys got it
Lol. Imagine making cigarette prices impossibly expensive and not knowing you would create an illegal market.
'crime groups', or the open minded entrepreneurs of a new republic
The true crime is the government taking post tax income and then taxing people with an addictive legal substance and adding gst on top
With a packet of smokes over $65 what do you expect. The fat tax cheque received plus the insane margin the companies make. It's legalized drug dealing...
'government dosnt want to relenquish its monopoly on tobaco'
In the town I live in there are cash only grocery stores that sell illegal tobacco and cigarettes .The police must know what these stores are doing but they dont do anything.
Yes. What do Lawmakers expect? There are 2 laws of nature creating criminal profits. Law 1 = prohibition. Law 2 = high taxes. Is it not strange that Lawmakers always forget those laws?
Tobacco is health terrorism