Border Force officials seize record haul of illicit tobacco

A record number of illegal vapes and tobacco products have been intercepted by the Australian Border Force (ABF) in a major blow to the black market.

Officers today served up a stern warning to anyone involved in the booming trade.

The almost 1000-tonne bust - nearly three-quarters of it in NSW - is one of the ABF's biggest ever.

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"That prevented more than $2 billion worth of duty being stolen from the Australian taxpayer," ABF customs compliance and enforcement Assistant Commissioner Tony Smith said today.

In just four months, hundreds of tonnes of loose-leaf tobacco and 800 million cigarettes have been seized.

If laid end to end the cigarettes would stretch more than 71,000 kilometres, which is almost enough to wrap around Earth twice.

Four million vapes were also among the seizures. 

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"It reflects a concerted and targeted effort across all of our domains, from the air and sea, to the traveller and mail," Operation Printwall commander Andrew Tankey said.

The majority of illicit products stripped from the supply chain came from Asia.

One woman arrived from Bali with boxes upon boxes of cigarettes, far more than the legal limit.

Offshore, the ABF also blocked more than 35 million cigarettes and 560,000 vapes from even arriving into Australia.

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"Make no mistake, this is intelligence-led enforcement at pace and scale," Smith said.

"If you move it, you store it or distribute it, you're in our sights."

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