Illicit tobacco and vaping products with an estimated retail value of approximately $1.5 million have been seized in Tasmania during a recent joint operation by the Department of Health.
The significant seizure included more than 23,000 packets of cigarettes, close to 5000 vapes and 112 kg of loose tobacco.
Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing, Roger Jaensch, said Public Health Services had taken an inter-agency approach together to detect, disrupt and seize illicit tobacco and vaping products, to protect and safeguard the health of all Tasmanians.
“The seizure was a collaborative inter-agency effort that demonstrated the Tasmanian Government’s commitment to taking strong action to prevent the harms of smoking and vaping,” he said.
“This backs our nation-leading approach through the Public Health Amendment (Vaping) Bill (2024) which recently received in-principal agreement in the Tasmania Parliament.
“The Bill aims to protect our community, particularly our youth, from the harms of smoking and vaping.
“We are working proactively to enforce legislation regulating the legal sale and supply of tobacco and vaping products and interrupt the supply of illicit smoking products. The Tasmanian Government is also employing 6.7FTE compliance officers to crack down on illegal tobacco,” Mr Jaensch said.
All illicit products seized are destroyed and reported to the Australian Border Force and Therapeutic Goods Administration, as the Commonwealth regulators of illicit tobacco and vaping products.
