Fed: Customs detects record level of tobacco smuggling in 2007

AAP General News (Australia)
12-19-2007
Fed: Customs detects record level of tobacco smuggling in 2007

SYDNEY, Dec 19 AAP - Smugglers have been caught attempting to bring an unprecedented
236 tonnes of tobacco and 95 million cigarettes into the country this year, Australian
Customs says.

The flood of illegal products mainly came through Sydney's Port Botany in shipping
containers, declared as plastic kitchenware, wooden tabletops, biscuits and even pretzels.

Customs said it had foiled 40 separate attempts to smuggle cigarettes and tobacco into
Australia since January, amounting to an attempted evasion of more than $100 million in
duties.

Customs chief executive Michael Carmody said the amount of cigarettes seized was twice
that detected in 2006 and the volume of tobacco was a staggering 14-fold increase over
last year.

He said the flood reflected a worldwide rise in cases of large-scale organised cigarette
and tobacco smuggling.

"Smugglers see cigarette and tobacco smuggling as a way of making large sums of money
by avoiding paying the high level of duties levied on tobacco products," Mr Carmody said
in a statement.

He said Australian Customs was working closely with overseas agencies to smash the trade.

Thirty people had been arrested on tobacco smuggling charges this year, with 48 convictions
recorded, Mr Carmody said.

Penalties and costs totalled $3.9 million and a large quantity of tobacco products
had been destroyed.

Today, custom officials showed off some of the seized products at a container examination
facility in Port Botany.

The largest cigarette seizure in 2007 was more than nine million cigarettes into Sydney
from the United Arab Emirates.

The biggest tobacco seizure was over 22 tonnes into Melbourne from Vietnam.

AAP jcd/was/jt/de

KEYWORD: TOBACCO (PIX AVAILABLE)

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