From: The Sydney Morning Herald
Are cigarettes the underworld’s Bitcoin?
John Silvester
Part of a haul of 4.5 million cigarettes intercepted by Australian Border Force in a container from Malaysia declared as boxes of paper cups. Photo: Australian Border Force
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Let’s look at the maths. If you were to invest $200,000 in cocaine, you could expect a return of $1.6 million. Invest the same amount in smuggled cigarettes from China and the return would be $10 million.
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Police say bikie and Middle Eastern crime gangs are the biggest influences behind the rackets, with some of the stolen product sold back to small retailers or sent interstate. But the tobacconists and corner shops that buy the product through the back door risk having the front one smashed in, as they leave themselves at risk of being robbed for their stock. Or as one investigator says: “Today’s buyer is tomorrow’s victim.”
