Australian minister says Cambodia factories mass-produce counterfeit tobacco

New bill would give authorities stronger powers against illegal tobacco

Australia’s customs minister Julian Hill urged parliament to pass tough new tobacco laws as soon as possible, citing intelligence that criminal syndicates in Cambodia are mass-producing counterfeit cigarettes in Australian-style packaging at an industrial scale.

Intelligence provided to the federal government shows that cigarettes in plain Australian-style packaging are being produced illegally at factories in south-east Asian warehouses, according to The Guardian. Some of the counterfeit packaging is even branded with Australian health warnings, making the fakes increasingly difficult to spot.

“Serious and organised criminal syndicates have weaponised the cheap oversupply of tobacco globally and will do anything to make a buck,” Hill said.

The factories producing the counterfeits are owned and operated by criminal syndicates primarily based in Cambodia, the intelligence indicates. The products replicate common Australian brands with growing sophistication.

Hill warned that the overseas production was becoming harder to detect and stop. “The crooks will continue to adapt their tactics,” he said.

A new bill on the tobacco trade is expected to be debated in the Senate on Thursday. The legislation would give law enforcement stronger powers to detect and disrupt illegal tobacco trade lines, including choking off criminal profits.

“This highlights the urgency of equipping state, territory and commonwealth authorities with these new powers to go after anyone involved in the illegal tobacco trade, including the supply chains and retail outlets,” Hill said.

Several states and territories have been cracking down on enforcement measures, including blitzes of black-market shopfronts. Queensland has taken the hardest line, and legal cigarette sales have grown as a result.

New South Wales police closed 10 retailers across the state last week, including eight in south-west Sydney, according to The Guardian. Over just two days on 6 and 7 October, NSW health inspectors seized 420,000 illegal cigarettes, about 60 kilograms of loose-leaf tobacco, and thousands of illicit vapes — small numbers compared with the 2.4 tonnes of tobacco confiscated since the start of the year.

Some shops have been closed for more than 90 days as the NSW government ramps up enforcement.