A 44-year old man is to be summonsed to appear in court after an Australian Border Force (ABF) operation resulted in investigators finding over 750 kilograms of illegally imported tobacco, with a potential street value of up to $210,000 and up to $664,412 in duty evaded.
ABF officers targeted a consignment that arrived from Indonesia for inspection on October 4, 2016. The boxes, labelled as aromatherapy incense, contained more than 490 kilograms of ‘Al Fakher’ brand molasses tobacco.
On October 6, ABF investigators executed warrants on commercial premises in the Perth suburb of Wangara and a residence in Lansdale. Following the execution of these warrants, investigators seized a further 262 kilograms of tobacco.
ABF Investigators are considering additional charges connected to the possible importation of a further 1,859 kilograms of molasses tobacco with an estimated street value of $520,000.
ABF Commander Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Anthony Seebach, said this operation is another example of the work that the ABF is doing to stop illegal tobacco from entering our community.
“The illicit importation of tobacco is a deliberate and dishonest attempt to defraud the Commonwealth of legitimate revenue,” Commander Seebach said.
“The ABF will continue to actively investigate and work to stop tobacco smuggling at the border. This seizure sends a strong message to anyone who thinks they can smuggle tobacco into Australia – you will be caught.”
