A new taskforce to combat the recent spike in theft and arson of tobacco and vape stores has rolled out operations across Logan.
Several locals have been arrested and more than 100kg of tobacco seized as the taskforce cracks down on “organised crime syndicates behind illicit tobacco trade”.
Earlier this month a 26-year-old Logan man was arrested over the alleged forced entry of four tobacconists in Ipswich.
Police allege a group of people travelling in a blue Haval SUV, which had been reported stolen from Eagleby, “forced entry into four tobacconist shops” across the Ipswich area.
“At three businesses they stole cigarettes and tobacco products but were unable to access any cigarettes at the fourth business,” police said.
Police later found and arrested the Logan man at an Edens Landing address.
In late June, a 29-year-old Bethania man was one of two people arrested and charged over a separate incident in which a Mount Isa tobacconist was set on fire.
Police allege two people “doused the entryway” of the Mount Isa store with flammable liquid at around 2.50am on 24 June, before setting fire to the building.
“The business sustained significant fire damage to the front wall and immediate interior – no one was inside at the time of the fire,” a police statement said.
Police allege two motorcycles and 105kg of chopped tobacco, relating to a separate arson incident, were seized following a search warrant that led to the man’s arrest.
Police suspect the bikes and tobacco are linked to arson crimes at tobacconists in Kempsey and Taree in NSW.
A second man, a 31-year-old from Pimpama, was arrested in Woodridge last week over the same incident.
