Monthly Archives: February 2019

Slavery and Tobacco Smuggling in Australia

Posted on February 27, 2019

From: Reuters

Australia’s labor abuse crackdown will protect slaves: official

Michael Taylor

KUALA LUMPUR (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Modern slavery victims should not fear Australian authorities despite a major crackdown on unscrupulous labor brokers who exploit foreign workers, a senior official for the country’s border force said on Tuesday.

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Operation Battenrun – an operation targeting unscrupulous labor hire syndicates – has uncovered links with serious organized criminal groups and “cross-pollination” with drug and tobacco smuggling, money-laundering and tax crimes, he said.

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Effort to raise Utah’s tobacco purchasing age to 21 has an unlikely critic — the American Cancer Society’s action network

Posted on February 27, 2019

From: Salt Lake Tribune

Rep. Steve Eliason is pushing to raise Utah’s minimum age for tobacco purchases to 21 across the state, a move he hopes would prevent people from getting hooked on cigarettes and vape pens in their formative years.

But there’s some opposition to his legislation, and it’s coming from a somewhat surprising source — the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.

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Five tonnes of suspect illicit tobacco seized in UK

Posted on February 27, 2019

From: Securing Industry

Phil Taylor

Raids by the authorities in the UK have netted around five tonnes of bulk tobacco suspected of being illicit.

The operation by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) was conducted at locations in Glasgow and uncovered what the authorities believe may be two separate production facilities for knock-off tobacco products.

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Kenya wins praise for fight against illicit tobacco trade

Posted on February 21, 2019

From: Business Daily Africa

Kenya loses billions of shillings in tax revenue and jobs to bootlegging of cigarettes.

By PATRICK ALUSHULA

Kenya is among countries that have made great strides in controlling prevalence of illicit tobacco trade, a new World Bank report shows, citing implementation of tight measures by government.

In the report titled ‘Confronting Illicit Tobacco Trade: A Global Review of Country Experiences,’ the World Bank says Kenya has invested substantially in taxation and product tracking systems of controlling illicit trade in tobacco products since early 2000s.

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Australian Border Force smashes illegal tobacco smuggling syndicate after 12 tonne detection

Posted on February 14, 2019

From: Australian Border Force

Australian Border Force (ABF) investigators have smashed an organised criminal syndicate involved in both the importation and domestic distribution of illicit tobacco in Sydney, after executing multiple warrants in Sydney’s west.

On 3 February 2019, ABF officers at the Sydney Container Examination Facility targeted a container arriving from China.

The consignment was described as containing ‘beverages and toilet paper’, but an examination of the container revealed it was filled entirely with illicit tobacco products.

ABF officers located 1.87 million cigarettes and 12 tonnes of loose leaf tobacco, which represents a total evaded duty of $15.9 million.

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