Billions lost to gangs as fake cigarettes flood Australia. Is the war against smoking at a turning point?

The sale takes place in full view.
In a convenience store on a Tuesday afternoon, the cashier asks: “Do you want the cheapest ?”
"Sure", I said, thinking: who wouldn't?
The cashier turns around, opens the door from the cupboard with "Smoking Kills" scrawled on it and takes out a pack of cigarettes.
He feeds $25 into the EFTPOS machine and puts the pack back in.
They are undoubtedly illegal.
The tax alone on a pack of 20 cigarettes is today 26 dollars.
But what is most surprising In other words, they look legitimate.
They are packaged in plain packaging, with a graphic image and the obligatory health warning, just like the ones you would buy in a supermarket for two. or three times the price.
A packet of illegal and counterfeit Manchester cigarettes, one of the most prolific brands of illicit tobacco found in Australia. (ABC News: David Sciasci)
If there was any doubt, it's the brand that gives it away: "Manchester Classic Gold" — likely the brand of illegal cigarettes and the most prolific counterfeit cigarette on the market, imported in vast quantities from the Middle East.
About a kilometer away, another convenience store openly sells cigarettes under the counter (those -there from Japan, in their original packaging).
These transactions are not carried out via encrypted messaging applications and the goods are not exchanged in bags made of brown paper in alleyways.
They are occurring in hundreds of stores in cities and towns across the country and the evidence can be seen on any street.
On a cold Canberra evening, two young men smoking in an alley complained to the ABC about the tobacco tax.
About 8.8 percent of Australian adults smoke regularly, according to the latest statistics.(...

Agrotech May 30, 2024 0 18 Add to Reading List

Billions lost to gangs as fake cigarettes flood Australia. Is the war against smoking at a turning point?

The sale takes place in full view.

In a convenience store on a Tuesday afternoon, the cashier asks: “Do you want the cheapest ?”

"Sure", I said, thinking: who wouldn't?

The cashier turns around, opens the door from the cupboard with "Smoking Kills" scrawled on it and takes out a pack of cigarettes.

He feeds $25 into the EFTPOS machine and puts the pack back in.

They are undoubtedly illegal.

The tax alone on a pack of 20 cigarettes is today 26 dollars.

But what is most surprising In other words, they look legitimate.

They are packaged in plain packaging, with a graphic image and the obligatory health warning, just like the ones you would buy in a supermarket for two. or three times the price.

A packet of illegal and counterfeit Manchester cigarettes with a graphic warning that smoking causes kidney and bladder cancer.

If there was any doubt, it's the brand that gives it away: "Manchester Classic Gold" — likely the brand of illegal cigarettes and the most prolific counterfeit cigarette on the market, imported in vast quantities from the Middle East.

About a kilometer away, another convenience store openly sells cigarettes under the counter (those -there from Japan, in their original packaging).

These transactions are not carried out via encrypted messaging applications and the goods are not exchanged in bags made of brown paper in alleyways.

They are occurring in hundreds of stores in cities and towns across the country and the evidence can be seen on any street.

On a cold Canberra evening, two young men smoking in an alley complained to the ABC about the tobacco tax.