Australia
Illegal tobacco boom linked to Queensland bikie group
This imprint previously revealed importers were flooding the Brisbane market with more illicit tobacco than ever before.
Ten convenience stores and tobacconists in several suburbs all openly sold illegal Manchester cigarettes, and many also stocked the illicit Chinese brand “Double Happiness”, the Korean brand “ESSE” and imported “Marlboro Reds” and “Winfield Blues”, among others.
Counterfeit Australian imported Manchester cigarettes in plain packaging. Credit: Border Force
Prices ranged from $17 to $25 per pack; which was about 50 percent cheaper than most legally taxed plain-packaged equivalents.
None of the vendors were ready to discuss their supply chains.
