The Australian Border Force (ABF) is seeing a significant increase in attempted illicit tobacco imports at the Australian border. Between 1 January and 31 December 2021 the ABF detected 878.8 tonnes of undeclared loose leaf tobacco and 712.7 million undeclared cigarette sticks, a 45 per cent increase on the previous year. The combined weight of the detections in 2021 is over 1,377.7 tonnes, which is equivalent to approximately seven and a half Boeing 747’s. The majority of the illicit tobacco consignments are arriving from the Middle East and Asian regions. Once the detections are made at our …
