One man will face court and another has been released after police removed more than 10,000 alleged illicit cigarettes from a convenience store in Portland following reports from local residents.
What happened? Police conducted a search warrant on the Percy Street business last Thursday. Officers discovered the cigarettes as well as vapes and an unspecified amount of cash.
A 28-year-old man from Williams Landing was charged with selling a commercial quantity of illicit tobacco and possessing cash suspected of being proceeds of crime.
He has been bailed and will appear before Portland Magistrates’ Court on February 23 next year. A 30-year-old man from Lara was interviewed and released by police.
Community effort: Detective Sergeant Matthew Laxton said in a statement the investigation was “prompted by locals who were concerned about the safety of their community”.
“I remind consumers that purchasing illicit tobacco is not a victimless crime. If you do it, you are funding organised crime,” he said, encouraging residents to come forward with information if they are aware of illicit activity linked to a tobacco store.
Regional issue: The Portland raid comes after 10,000 allegedly illicit cigarettes, 800 grams of loose tobacco and $10,000 in cash were seized across two businesses in Colac and Forrest on September 1.
The Forrest business, a hotel, was ordered to close for 90 days.
On October 28, a tobacco shop in Cobden was engulfed in flames, gutting the building and damaging three other stores on the Curdie Street arcade.
An arson chemist attended the site and the investigation is ongoing.