Slavery and Tobacco Smuggling in Australia

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.