Police running out of room to store illegal cigarettes they’ve seized amid Australia’s booming illicit trade

Police are struggling to store a growing wave of illegal cigarettes and vapes seized from criminals, with secure facilities at capacity and the high cost of destroying illicit products becoming prohibitive. The Australian federal police (AFP) has been spending as much as $13 a kilogram for vapes to be destroyed, with some companies requiring the cartridge, battery and heating element to be manually dismantled. Destruction of a standard 550kg pallet can cost more than $7,150. AFP officials told a parliamentary inquiry into the booming illicit tobacco trade that storage facilities in Australia were at capacity and the cost of destruction of illegal stocks was putting major pressures on law enforcement efforts. “For large-scale seizures, these costs quickly become prohibitive, underscoring the increasing pressure on law enforcement resources and the need for more efficient, innovative storage and destruction solutions,” the AFP told the inquiry. …