AUSTRALIA
Authorities seized six tons of illegal tobacco leaf and vast fields of mature plants worth more than AU$13 million (US$9.4 million) in lost tax on a sophisticated, 7-hectare crop outside Katherine in the Northern Territory.
This was the first successful strike by a task force bringing together agencies including the Australian Tax Office and Australian Border Force.
At the property, authorities found three separate crops of plants, many more than two meters tall, along with shipping containers used to dry the illicit product, and an extensive irrigation system. It was the first tobacco seizure in the territory, with the plants growing well outside the growing season and thousands of kilometers from established growing areas.
ATO deputy commissioner, Will Day, said, “To anyone seeking to profit from the illegal tobacco trade, the message is clear, there is nowhere to hide. “We will continue to work with our partner agencies to find, seize, and destroy illegal tobacco wherever it is grown.”