An Adelaide petrol station has been raided by federal officers and temporarily shut down after an investigation into the supply and distribution of illegal tobacco.
Metro Petroleum’s Blair Athol servo was issued a short-term closure order on Tuesday morning after a raid by an Australian Border Force task force named Shorthand.
The co-ordinated raids took place at Metro Petroleum servos across the country – in South Australia, NSW, Victoria and Queensland – part of a significant probe into the discount fuel giant, the nation’s largest independent petrol station.
An employee at the Prospect Rd servo said officers arrived at the business on Tuesday morning to “check in on the cigarettes”.
“Everything will be closed,” they said. “I’ll have to find another job. I’m nervous because I need a job.”
The servo was issued with a 28-day closure effective from midnight Tuesday.
Started more than 40 years ago by brothers John and George Dib, Metro Petroleum now operates more than 300 sites nationwide, with an estimated wealth of nearly $1bn.
The brothers are not accused of any wrongdoing.
Just after 9.30am, raids began in several states led by the Australian Border Force with assistance from the AFP and state law enforcement agencies.
More than 100 service stations were simultaneously targeted across six jurisdictions, and involved the co-ordinated deployment of 250 law enforcement and regulatory officers from 15 agencies.
Among the first stores raided on Tuesday morning was the Metro petrol station at Alexandria in Sydney’s inner west.
No employees have been arrested or are alleged to be involved in illegal activity, with officers seizing paperwork and devices to be examined by forensic accountants.
A secret task force named Shorthand, was put together by the ABF after intelligence linked the stations to the illegal tobacco trade.
“Because of the number of transactions, it doesn’t seem just a case of a few rogue individuals trying to make some money on the side,” a source, close to the law enforcement investigation, said.
“It suggests something that is organised, sophisticated and resilient that encompasses the entire illicit tobacco supply chain – from the potential importation of illicit tobacco, to its distribution to sites of sale, and to how funds are collected and distributed.”
Last week, George Dib Jnr – the son of John Dib and nephew of George Dib – was arrested by authorities in Lebanon.
It is understood his detention is not linked to the action carried out in Australia on Tuesday by the ABF and other agencies.