More than $1 million worth of illicit tobacco and vapes have been seized by officers from Consumer and Business Services’ illicit tobacco taskforce in their biggest bust to date.

Officers raided a store in Adelaide’s northern suburbs this week and seized illicit cigarettes, vapes, tobacco and nicotine pouches with a street value of more than $1 million.

This includes approximately 548,000 cigarettes, almost 12,000 vapes and more than 500 containers of nicotine pouches. This is the most significant seizure by the agency in a single inspection since the state government invested $16 million into a dedicated taskforce within CBS to tackle the growing illicit tobacco trade from July 1, 2024.

An application for a long-term closure order is currently before the Magistrates Court. The state government’s new shut down powers allow for a store to be shut for up to six months.

The taskforce has also been active in regional South Australia over the past few weeks with a series of raids in the Murraylands and Adelaide Hills seizing more than 200,000 cigarettes, 50kg of loose tobacco and nearly 850 vapes valued at more than $225,000.

This action is part of the state government’s nation-leading crackdown on the illicit tobacco and vape market with it estimated that organised crime controls 75 per cent of the illicit tobacco market in Australia.

Since July 1, CBS has been working closely with SAPOL’s Operation Eclipse as well as Border Force and the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) to get these illicit products off South Australian streets.

We also now have significantly higher penalties relating to the sale of illicit tobacco and vapes of up to $1.5 million in effect.

The state government will continue to stamp out this illicit trade and encourages people to report illegal tobacco or vape dealers via: Tobacco licensing and enforcement in SA | Consumer and Business Services