Byron blitz allegedly nabs weapons, millions of dollars worth of illicit tobacco and vapes

Thousands of vapes and illicit tobacco worth more than $2.3 million have been seized after detectives allegedly uncovered a network funnelling criminal profits through retail tobacco fronts on the NSW North Coast.

More than 18,000 vapes, 1.9 million illicit cigarettes, 74 kilograms of loose-leaf tobacco and five unregistered firearms were seized by the NSW Police organised crime squad this week, with assistance from Australian Border Force and NSW Health, in the Byron Shire region. Strike Force Franklin was launched in December 2024 to tackle illicit tobacco trade across the state.

The vast majority of the tobacco and vapes was allegedly uncovered in three storage units at Mullumbimby, where investigators seized 17,120 vapes, more than 1.8 million illicit cigarettes and 62 kilograms of loose-leaf tobacco on Wednesday.

A search at two nearby homes allegedly found five unregistered firearms and $40,000 in cash, while mobile phones and an assortment of illicit cigarettes and vapes were also retrieved from the address.

Inspections of a Byron Bay tobacconist and Tweed Heads convenience store allegedly found almost 90,000 illicit cigarettes, more than 1000 vapes, and 11.5 kilograms of loose-leaf tobacco.

Two men, aged 24 and 27, and a 40-year-old woman were charged with possessing more than 1000 times the commercial quantity of illicit vapes, dealing with proceeds of crime and participating in a criminal group.

Another man, 41, was charged with five counts of possessing an unregistered firearm after he was arrested at a Mullumbimby home.

All four charged were granted conditional bail, and are due to appear in Byron Bay and Mullumbimby local courts in November and December.

Detective Chief Superintendent Grant Taylor said it was “so important” to “stamp out these syndicates before they endanger local communities further”.

“The sale of illicit tobacco across NSW is fuelling the rise in sophisticated crime networks both in our metropolitan centres and in regional towns,” Taylor said.

He said police were investigating several criminal syndicates operating along NSW’s northern coast and were working to establish links between separate organised crime groups that appeared to be co-operating to control the lucrative illicit tobacco market, which is being driven by imports from South-East Asia and the Middle East via sea and air.

“Organised crime is itself becoming more organised in how they do business,” Taylor said. “It’s very much how they do business, and businesses are all about establishing relationships, building on those relationships, finding the best way to carry out your tasks and most certainly that is the case with these individuals and with a lot of organised crime networks operating in NSW.

“They’re very much intertwined with other networks carrying out all sorts of illegality.”

ABF Illicit Tobacco and Vape Enforcement Commander Greg Dowse praised policing efforts under Strike Force Franklin, saying it was “striking at the heart of the major criminal syndicates behind the illicit tobacco market”.

“The ABF remains relentless in our pursuit of those networks pre-border, at the border and domestically, and will continue to disrupt these crime groups and their networks across the supply chain,” he said.

The majority of illicit tobacco crossing the border is being imported through ports in NSW and Victoria, Dowse said, adding that the ABF was recording record seizures of illicit tobacco.

“One of the significant challenges we have is just the volume of air cargo and sea cargo consignments coming into Australia,” Dowse said.

Carolyn Murray, executive director of NSW Health’s Centre for Regulation and Enforcement, said harsher penalties on illicit tobacco and vape retailers, including fines of up to $1.5 million, would put retailers “on notice”.

NSW Health will increase its number of officers tackling illicit tobacco to 48 across NSW as it works to target more retailers with the increased penalties.

“If you’re selling, or having possession of, illicit tobacco it’s a $1.54 million [maximum] fine or seven years in prison,” she said.

“I don’t think any retailer would like that to come down hard on them, but that is what we have at our hands to use.”

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