🚨 Emergencies

Tobacco retailers raided again in Murray Bridge, this time by Border Force

Federal and state authorities have conducted joint raids on illegal cigarette retailers in the Murraylands.

Members of the Australian Border Force have raided multiple black market tobacconists in Murray Bridge. Photo: Julian Smith/AAP.

At least two Murray Bridge businesses have been shut down for allegedly selling black market tobacco products following raids by state and federal authorities.

Australian Border Force and SA Police officers raided two addresses on September 8: Misty Smoke, on Bridge Street, and the lolly shop around the corner on Seventh Street.

They were accompanied by inspectors from Consumer and Business Services.

The coordinated operation also targeted businesses at Gawler, Elizabeth, Seaton and Flinders Park, including delis, a hairdressing salon and a home.

In total, Border Force officers seized:

Almost 590,000 cigarettes
About 195 kilograms of loose-leaf tobacco
More than $66,500 in cash, alleged to have been the proceeds of crime

They arrested three men – none of them in Murray Bridge – for allegedly defrauding the federal government by evading import taxes.

One will also face a charge of obstructing a federal official.

Commander Graeme Campbell said Australian Border Force was determined to disrupt the criminals who ran the illicit tobacco trade.

These boxes of imported cigarettes were allegedly seized in Murray Bridge on September 8. Photo: Australian Border Force.

SA Police Detective Superintendent Campbell Hill suggested that anyone involved in that trade, at any level, was a target.

“The illicit tobacco market is a lucrative revenue stream for organised crime and is increasingly used to fund a range of serious criminal activities,” he said.

“SAPOL will continue to target those responsible and will not tolerate … violence, intimidation and criminal conduct.

“These arrests, seizures and business closures demonstrate our collective commitment to disrupting organised crime in South Australia.”

A closure order is posted on a roller door at a Seventh Street, Murray Bridge business. Photo: Peri Strathearn.

Consumer Affairs Commissioner Brett Humphrey said his agency would continue to share intelligence with authorities at all levels to get the illicit tobacco trade shut down.

Both Murray Bridge businesses were ordered to close from September 16 until October 14.