Australian law enforcement agencies have made some of the largest and most valuable seizures of illicit tobacco on record, amid an outbreak of violence linked to the trade and another firebombing of a Melbourne retailer.
Victorian police have said an ongoing turf war over tobacco shops – which has seen a series of stores targeted – is largely being fought by underworld figures, including outlaw motorcycle gangs and Middle Eastern organised crime groups. In some cases stores with no direct links to the underworld have also been targeted for extortion by crime gangs.
