{"id":76254,"date":"2026-08-20T04:45:24","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T04:45:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/76254\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T04:45:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T04:45:24","slug":"china-and-australia-bust-tobacco-syndicate-as-government-pushes-back-on-excise-calls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/76254\/","title":{"rendered":"China and Australia bust tobacco syndicate as government pushes back on excise calls"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australian and Chinese authorities have worked together to crack an international syndicate shipping illegal tobacco into Australia.<\/p>\n

More than 60 people have been arrested in China over their involvement with the syndicate, which the Australian Border Force (ABF) found had shipped more than 90 containers carrying tobacco to Australia between January and May this year.<\/p>\n

The ABF revealed more than 60 million cigarettes were seized, along with 60 kilograms of loose-leaf tobacco, worth over $92 million. The tobacco’s value is measured on taxes evaded.<\/p>\n

Chinese authorities traced the tobacco as likely manufactured and moved through South-East Asia, where it would be hidden among legitimate cargo bound for Australia.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

Australian and Chinese authorities worked together to crack the syndicate. (Supplied: Australian Federal Police)<\/p>\n

It was shipped out of Shanghai among loads of goods like printers and lamps, and largely arrived into port in Sydney.<\/p>\n

Border Force officers said they were notified of 112 containers possibly carrying illegal tobacco by Chinese authorities, of which 91 were found containing illicit tobacco.<\/p>\n

Australia has seen an extraordinary surge in the consumption of illegal tobacco in recent years.<\/p>\n

It is estimated 80 per cent of tobacco and other nicotine products consumed in Australia are now illicit, rising from 12 per cent in 2017, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.<\/p>\n

That has led to a political push from figures like NSW Premier Chris Minns and One Nation to cut the tobacco excise<\/a>, currently about $30 for a 20-cigarette packet.<\/p>\n

But the federal government has maintained that cutting the tobacco excise is unlikely to stop the criminal trade and has instead stepped up enforcement efforts.<\/p>\n

\"nsw<\/p>\n

Chris Minns says it is time to “rethink” the tobacco excise. (ABC News)<\/p>\n

ABF Assistant Commissioner Penelope Spies labelled Operation Trailblazer one of the most significant illicit tobacco disruptions, highlighting the importance of working alongside the Anti-Smuggling Bureau of General Administration of China Customs.<\/p>\n

“This outcome demonstrates the value of working beyond Australia’s borders to stop illicit tobacco before it reaches Australian communities,” she said.<\/p>\n

Labor frontbencher Julian Hill said the sharing of intelligence was critical to these major criminal disruptions, praising both teams.<\/p>\n

“Disrupting the illegal tobacco trade is happening pre-border with international partners, at the border with record seizures, and post border by closing illegal shops,” he said.<\/p>\n

“The best container of illegal tobacco is one that never makes it across the border, and intelligence from foreign partners is critical to fighting these transnational serious and organised criminals.”<\/p>\n

Government calls push for excise cut ‘100 per cent wrong’<\/p>\n

Australia has the world’s most expensive legal cigarettes due in large part to successive hikes in the tobacco excise, hitting $1.55 per cigarette this month.<\/p>\n

But as the excise has climbed, the illicit market has rapidly grown and government revenue has plunged.<\/p>\n

The May budget forecast an $8 billion shortfall in revenue over five years.<\/p>\n

Economist Chris Richardson estimated that if the black market had not grown the way it had since 2019, the government would be bringing in around $15 billion in additional tax revenue each year.<\/p>\n

Exposing illicit tobacco’s online marketplace<\/a><\/p>\n

The process was simple and the service was speedy but the ease with which 7.30 acquired illicit tobacco products was concerning.<\/p>\n

He said it had become a market worth billions for organised crime.<\/p>\n

“Organised crime doesn’t get all of that $15 billion, but estimates are $6 or $7 billion a year through dumb government policies,” he said.<\/p>\n

One Nation has proposed cutting the tobacco excise by 75 per cent and freezing price indexation for at least three years, bringing the price closer to the cost of illicit cigarettes.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, NSW Premier Chris Minns yesterday backed One Nation’s push to slash the tobacco excise in an effort to undermine the black market for cigarettes.<\/p>\n

“I just think we need a rethink on this. The excise is not working,” he said.<\/p>\n

“It’s driving underground black market cigarettes and it’s really a source of funding and opportunity for organised crime in New South Wales.” he said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Tanya Plibersek says the states and territories should do a better job policing the sale of illegal tobacco. (ABC News)<\/p>\n

Responding to his comments, Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek said she completely disagreed.<\/p>\n

“I think Chris Minns is a great premier who is absolutely 100 per cent wrong on this issue,” she said.<\/p>\n

“I think the states and territories should do a better job of policing the sale of illegal tobacco.”<\/p>\n

The Illicit Tobacco and E-Cigarette commissioner has previously advised economists that a drop in excise would not significantly disrupt the criminal trade.<\/p>\n

Assistant Minister for Customs Julian Hill said One Nation and the Coalition were in a “ridiculous” race to slash the excise.<\/p>\n

“By the time parliament goes back they will be paying people to smoke, it’s frankly ridiculous and it’s not how we do public policy,” Mr Hill told ABC Radio National.<\/p>\n

“If you wiped out excise completely the illegal cigarettes would still be cheaper and the states and territories would still have to close the shops.”<\/p>\n

Mr Hill said the Commonwealth had paid $98 million over the past financial year to support the states and territories to crack down on illicit tobacco, and now was not the time to “back down”.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australian and Chinese authorities have worked together to crack an international syndicate shipping illegal tobacco into Australia. More…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":76255,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[22,21,29630,29304,2285,1557,71958,1955,29837,33380,22649],"class_list":["post-76254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-austrlia","tag-black-market-tobacco","tag-border-force","tag-china","tag-chris-minns","tag-crackdown","tag-one-nation","tag-smuggling","tag-tanya-plibersek","tag-tobacco-excise"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76254\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}