20/08/2021
A National Anti-Gangs Squad (NAGS) investigation has identified the alleged involvement of a Sydney man, with Outlaw Motorcycle Gang links, in a plot to illegally import almost eight million cigarettes. A joint investigation known as Operation Kalvari was launched in March 2021 involving the Australian Federal Police (AFP), with the Australian Border Force (ABF) Illicit Tobacco Taskforce (ITTF) and Detector Dog Unit, and NSW Police Force Raptor Squad.
The investigation began after ABF officers detected approximately 800 hidden boxes of cigarettes in a sea cargo consignment at Port Botany. The goods had been declared as ‘brake shoe’. A deconstruction of the content of the shipping container revealed almost eight million illicit cigarettes, which had a total Customs duty payable of more than $8 million.
On 18 August 2021, members of the AFP, NSW Police Force and ABF executed multiple search warrants in the Sydney suburbs of Bankstown, Bass Hill, Cecil Hills and Kemps Creek, seizing two firearms and steroids.
Read the full story here: https://www.afp.gov.au/news-media/media-releases/sydney-man-linked-plot-import-8-million-worth-illicit-cigarettes