From: Herald Sun
by: Alan Howe
“DRESS down” was the instruction when the Herald Sun went shopping for illegal tobacco last week.
We were joined by a former detective, employed by British American Tobacco, who has spent years investigating the illicit cigarette trade.
To show us how prevalent illegal tobacco was in Melbourne, he said he could confine our trip to one suburb – Sunshine – where he had 10 addresses.
First was a shop in Sunshine Plaza.
There, we asked for a carton of 555 – or “Triple 5s” – a BAT brand.
A carton of 10 packets was retrieved from the back of the shop.
It cost $75.
The cigarettes, which were counterfeit, bore no health warnings.
Next a tiny supermarket sold us two cartons of Marlboro and three packets of Dunhill for $135. The Dunhill was genuine, but illegally imported.
At another shop, we purchased chop chop.
It came in a box containing 100 filled tubes marked Memphis, a legitimate brand of tubes if empty.
Another outlet sold us three packets of 555’s for $10 each, again counterfeit and without health warnings.
These had apparently been filled by local criminals.
At a bottle shop, we asked for chop chop in filled tubes.
We bought two boxes marked Ventti – again, legal if unfilled – each containing 100 cigarettes.
Total cost $52.
