ILLICIT TOBACCO SEIZURES HIT HISTORIC HIGH

The Australian Border Force (ABF) intercepted record volumes of illicit tobacco and vape products during the 2024–25 financial year, with new data revealing an average of 120 detections every day.

Between 1 July 2024 and 30 June 2025, the ABF made 23,097 detections of illicit tobacco, seizing 2.53 billion cigarette sticks and 435.46 tonnes of loose-leaf tobacco.

This equates to more than 2,091 tonnes of illicit tobacco products seized, preventing an estimated $4.36 billion in duty evaded.

These figures represent a staggering 320 per cent increase in cigarette stick seizures and a 67 per cent increase in total tobacco seized compared to four years ago.

In the same period, more than six million illicit vaping products were also detected, seized, and destroyed by the ABF before they could be sold illegally in the community.

ABF Illicit Tobacco and Vape Enforcement Commander Ken McKern said the agency’s enforcement activities extend beyond Australian borders.

“Officers deployed overseas in the ABF’s international network work closely with international customs partners to identify, disrupt, and stop illegal shipments before they reach Australian shores, and to help dismantle the organised crime groups responsible,” Commander McKern said.

“Unfortunately, we can’t seize this problem away. Enforcement at the border is only one part of the response, which must complement education, health, domestic enforcement and compliance.

“Illicit tobacco isn’t just dangerous to your health.

Whenever you buy an illicit tobacco product you are putting money in the pockets of serious organised crime groups, which then fund other serious criminal activities such as illicit drug and weapon trafficking.”


Some of the largest seizures in the past year included a shipment of 13.6 million cigarettes from Singapore into Victoria, and a shipment of 11.7 million cigarettes from the UAE into New South Wales. Two separate containers, each holding more than 10 tonnes of loose tobacco, were also intercepted en route to Victoria.

Despite these high-volume detections, industry leaders say the illegal trade continues to grow at an alarming rate.

Theo Foukkare, CEO of the Australian Association of Convenience Stores (AACS), said while the increased detections were welcome, they reflect a much larger and growing issue.

“It is great to see that catchments at the border have increased to these record numbers, but unfortunately the total volume of illegal products being illegally imported has grown exponentially in recent years.

So, in simple terms as more illegal products are smuggled in, then the detections will also grow accordingly,” he told C&I.

He said recent research from FTI Consulting showed the illegal tobacco market has expanded from 28.6 per cent in 2023 to 39 per cent of total tobacco consumed in 2024.

“The report also outlined that it estimates by mid-2025, the illegal tobacco market would be close to 50 per cent of the total market, and based on the number of illegal outlets that have opened up in communities all around Australia, that number is closer to the mark in my opinion,” Foukkare said.

“The convenience retail industry has lost more than $1.5 billion dollars in legal sales to the black market just over the last three years, while adult smoking rates have basically flatlined over this same period.

So, this massive gap is simply moving from the legal to illegal market.”

Foukkare said the AACS continues to call for harmonised national legislation, licensing, enforcement bodies, fines and criminal prosecution to combat the growing illegal trade.

“In the absence of the Federal Government actually doing something meaningful to address this, the state governments are ramping up their fines into the millions, setting up standalone enforcement bodies, introducing store closure powers, also working on landlords to be able to terminate leases where tenants are selling illegal products.”

With illicit tobacco selling for as low as $10 a pack compared to legal equivalents priced between $40 and $50, and the ongoing prohibition on non-pharmacy vape sales, Foukkare said the illegal market is now dominating supply.

“The unfortunate reality is, while the illegal market is selling a packet of 20s for as low as $10 and the same equivalent legal packet costs between $40 to $50, the illegal tobacco market will continue to grow.

Combine this with the effective prohibition of vaping products being restricted to pharmacy, only that has not been supported by anyone, the illegal nicotine market in Australia is now the largest supplier to Australians,” he told C&I.

“All of this while the Federal Government commissions their own reports to sell the narrative that suits their policy agenda and continues to ignore the reality.”

Foukkare said there is a clear path forward – if the Federal Government chooses to engage with industry stakeholders.

“There is a pathway forward out of this policy mess, however, it needs the Federal Government to actually listen to stakeholders on the ground, from legal retailers to landlords to police to economic experts to criminologists – who are all calling for a freeze and then reduction in tobacco excise, the regulation of vaping products to be sold by licensed retailers to adults combined with harmonised legislation to support shutting the illegal market.

“And if they were to take this approach, they would actually see their excise take, which has reduced from a high of $16 billion down to $7 billion per annum, actually grow again as consumers flow back into the legal market.”

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