Illegal tobacco war reignites with drive-by shooting
The long-running tobacco trade war has been reignited by a brazen shooting outside a suburban hookah bar.
A white Toyota Hilux opened fire on a crowd of people sitting outside a shisha bar and cafe in Altona North, in Melbourne’s south-east, late on Tuesday evening.
The 49-year-old man was shot twice in the arm and was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The car was found a few hours later, engulfed in flames less than 400 meters away.
Detectives from Victoria Police’s Gang Crime Unit, which oversees cases linked to the tobacco war in Melbourne, are continuing the investigation as the manhunt continues.
“At this stage police believe the incident may be linked to the illegal tobacco trade,” the force said in a statement on Wednesday. he said.
Following massive tax increases on legal products in Australia, demand for illegal tobacco has exploded, leading to a surge in the black market.
A tripling of the federal tobacco tax over the past decade has pushed the average price of a pack of legal cigarettes toward $50, while the black market equivalent can cost less than $15.
There have been at least 134 tobacco warehouse fires in Victoria and a further 30 fires involving cars, restaurants and other venues since March 2023, as crime syndicates compete for a share of the market.
A barber shop in Glenroy was set ablaze by arsonists in the early hours of Tuesday after a staff member was previously stabbed inside the venue.
The business is two doors down from a tobacconist that has been the target of numerous firebombs and drive-by shootings.
The Gang Crime Squad, formerly known as Taskforce Lunar, has carried out more than 350 raids and arrested at least 212 people for offenses linked to criminal groups involved in the illegal tobacco trade.
During this time, more than $50 million in cash, illegal cigarettes, tobacco and electronic cigarettes were seized.
There were no regulations on tobacco in Victoria until the rollout of a licensing scheme for retailers began in February.
Victoria’s 14 tobacco licensing inspectors seized more than $5 million worth of illegal tobacco products in the first month, including 3.19 million cigarettes.
The Victorian government has promised to introduce legislation to parliament in late 2026 that would give inspectors and police the power to order stores caught selling illegal tobacco to close immediately for up to 90 days.
