A run-down wood-panelled housing commission home doesn’t seem like the kind of place a tobacco baroness would be living.<\/p>\n
The house in Brisbane had a couple of motorbikes and a red SUV parked in the driveway, a few bits of garbage strewn on the lawn and some people inside.<\/p>\n
And a middle-aged woman listed as residing there was marked on business registers as being behind 14 stores.<\/p>\n
Among those stores was the VIP Tobacconist in Kallangur, north of Brisbane, which the ABC confirmed was selling illicit cigarettes last month to a conveyor line of customers walking in from the main road entrance.<\/p>\n
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The ABC has confirmed VIP Tobacconist\u00a0at Kallangur, north of Brisbane, was selling illegal cigarettes. (ABC News)<\/p>\n
A pack of red “Englishman” labelled cigarettes, lacking any required health warnings, cost only $7 at the shop. That’s dirt cheap given government duties alone should be almost $30. Sales were cash only.<\/p>\n
The woman listed as owning the business said she was unaware why her name was on business registers.<\/p>\n
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A pack of red “Englishman” labelled cigarettes, lacking any required health warnings, was for sale at the shop. (ABC News)<\/p>\n
Yes, she admitted to being manager at one other tobacconist among 14 shops on the list. But no, she maintained she did not own any despite what was on official registers.<\/p>\n
“I’ll get that cleared up,” she said.<\/p>\n
That might sound strange. But court records show authorities have alleged, in an unrelated ongoing case against an alleged multimillion dollar tobacco criminal in Queensland, that fake identities have been used in running other stores.<\/p>\n
Big business<\/p>\n
It’s an example of opaque parts of what is at times a blatantly open illicit trade. Billions of tax dollars are leaking as criminals infiltrate the tobacco market, fuelled by splashes of arson and even the assistance of big business.<\/p>\n
Do you know more about this story? Email Walsh.Liam@abc.net.au<\/a> or via encrypted app Signal.<\/a><\/p>\n The ABC, via interviews, reviews of court records and attending dozens of illegal stores, can reveal new details and allegations about the trade.<\/p>\n The woman, like many staff at shops, denied knowing who was behind the venue she runs. “I’m just a manager \u2026 I don’t know anything further than that, or higher than that,” she claimed.<\/p>\n Further, she did not wish to discuss the tobacco trade; the store she runs was selling illegal cigarettes for discount cash prices. “It’s just a job for me,” she said.<\/p>\n Business records show some shops listing her as owner, including VIP Tobacconist, have the same or extremely similar shop names once linked to a confessed illicit nicotine supplier \u2014 Bilal Al Dilami. The woman said she did not know Al Dilami.<\/p>\n Newspaper clipping of Bilal Jamal Al Dilami, who in 2023 reportedly faced charges relating to the seizure of 5,000 nicotine-filled illegal vapes. (ABC News: Peter Mullins)<\/p>\n Al Dilami, 38, was fined $4,000 in Pine Rivers Magistrates Court after pleading guilty in 2023 to two counts of supplying medicines or hazardous poisons following raids on two stores that uncovered illegal nicotine vapes.<\/p>\n His latest address is a well-manicured home near Caboolture, north of Brisbane. He’s also one of four men in a private trust that bought an industrial Logan property for $2.5 million in 2022.<\/p>\n Repeated attempts to obtain comment from Al Dilami were unsuccessful.<\/p>\n But the ABC can reveal his family name comes up in a 2023 Queensland police report, filed in court in an ongoing action against another tobacco figure facing charges.<\/p>\n “There are extensive intelligence holdings linking the Al Dilami family to illicit tobacco stores and the supply of illegal tobacco and vape products,” police wrote.<\/p>\n Another business once registered to Al Dilami was Chermside Tobacco and Gift. That same business name, except for “Tabacco” being spelt incorrectly, was also in the name of another illicit nicotine seller: Sam Albion, whose former name was Mohammad Al Dilami.<\/p>\n Albion was listed as behind five stores in south-east Queensland. One store was repeat trouble.<\/p>\n Big clumps of raw tobacco, known as chop chop, in moving bags. (Supplied: Queensland Police Service)<\/p>\n Raid uncovers ‘commercial arrangement’<\/p>\n Thursday, December 1, 2022, had unseasonably cool weather and heavy rain. At 1pm that day, police searched Albion’s Deception Bay Tobacconist and Gifts store.<\/p>\n Inside were 2,147 illegal nicotine vapes of assorted flavours and 53 hollowed-out knuckledusters made of plastic that could also be used for smoking and \u2014 authorities alleged \u2014 hurting someone.<\/p>\n Authorities confiscated goods and reconnoitred the store the next day. It was again “fully stocked up with nicotine based vapes”, prosecutors said, according to a court transcript obtained by the ABC.<\/p>\n They seized another 1,581 illegal vapes.<\/p>\n “That’s a hell of a lot of vapes,” Magistrate Mark Bucknall said. “What’s concerning is once there was one warrant executed, a similar number shows up within days.<\/p>\n “This is obviously a commercial arrangement, undertaken for profit.” A vape seized by the Australian Border Force in a separate raid. (Supplied: Australian Border Force)<\/p>\n Albion pleaded guilty to five charges and was hit with a $7,500 fine.<\/p>\n He was a father of four, who enjoyed soccer, swimming, fishing and boating, and was generating income of about $3,000 per week, his solicitor Mark Zeller of Indigo Law said. Mr Zeller was also Bilal Al Dilami’s lawyer.<\/p>\n Albion, who did not respond to queries, is still listed as owning a hedge-lined four-bedroom home on Brisbane’s southside that cost $1.3 million in 2022. It looks suburban, peaceful.<\/p>\n But there are signs of trouble. Albion’s company, Samco Solutions, is listed as owning the “Browns Plains Tobacconist”. That’s the same name as a shop burned down twice in arson attacks in the past four months.<\/p>\n A crime scene was declared after the Browns Plains Tobacconist was set alight on May 30.<\/p>\n Threats, security guards and fires<\/p>\n The tobacco outlet is sandwiched between the big yellow wall of a massive Mr Toys store and, during the first fire, a small business selling South African goods.<\/p>\n At 3:31am one night early in 2024, ram raiders struck, with CCTV footage capturing two men with machetes charging out of the tobacconist in defence.<\/p>\n Loading…<\/p>\n Fast forward to Friday, May 30 this year, and two men were inside sleeping and acting as security because of threats, police alleged. At 12:15am, police said, two other men with alleged bikie links approached, poured accelerant and the place lit up.<\/p>\n The men acting as default security suffered burns. All stock in the legitimate South African business next door was lost due to soot and toxins.<\/p>\n After the alleged arson offenders were taken into custody, someone then targeted the tobacconist again last month.<\/p>\n The aftermath of the fire at Brown Plains in May. (Supplied)<\/p>\n Cartons smuggled in speakers, bags full of chop chop<\/p>\n The illicit trade has ballooned as Australian duties increasingly rise on cigarettes.<\/p>\n The Australian Taxation Office said illegal tobacco, which would have attracted $3.6 billion in duty, was seized in the 2023 financial year but estimated another $2.7 billion worth still leaked into the market.<\/p>\n The Australian Taxation Office says $3.6 billion of illegal tobacco was seized in the 2023 financial year. (ABC News: Peter Mullins)<\/p>\n It was evident at one store in inner Brisbane. The bare bones venue displayed cheap smokes to customers on a menu, such as a glossy gold and red pack of Huanghelou cigarettes for $10.<\/p>\n The middle-aged owner slid open a cupboard door to show the ABC where he sold legitimate cigarettes with prices near $45. He glanced at a young staffer, who had been there about a month, asking how many customers had sought the legal products. The answer: zero.<\/p>\n Authorities are seizing extraordinary amounts. Just last month, the Australian Border Force and other Queensland agencies seized more than 30 million cigarettes, 400,000 vapes, nearly five tonnes of tobacco and $1 million in cash, in raids across 17 storage sheds, eight tobacconists and six homes.<\/p>\n Last month the Australian Border Force raided 17 storage sheds. (Supplied: Australian Border Force)<\/p>\n It boils down to a risk-reward equation. Academics in the International Journal of Drug Policy wrote lower penalties compared to illegal drugs have likely “encouraged organised crime syndicates to diversify into illicit tobacco supply”.<\/p>\n Cigarette cartons smuggled inside fake music speakers. (Supplied: Queensland Police Service)<\/p>\n That supply arrives in many disguises \u2014 cigarette cartons smuggled inside fake music speakers or boxes supposedly holding inflatable pools. Big clumps of raw tobacco, known as chop chop, are sometimes stuffed into moving bags.<\/p>\n Goods can be kept off-site in homes or storage sheds. Closer to a tobacconist, the illicit products might be unpacked in nearby secret rooms. Authorities once raided a tobacconist containing a hole in the wall to a shop next door; inside was a dirty-looking white-tiled room containing chop-chop, scales on a table and cigarette cartons.<\/p>\n A white-tiled floor with cardboard boxes containing loose tobacco and stacked cigarette cartons. (Supplied: Queensland Police Service)<\/p>\n ATMs removed from stores<\/p>\n Helping fuel the illegal trade, as an ABC investigation has previously revealed, were private ATMs. Many tobacconists offered discount prices for cash or refused to take card payments. It meant fewer records for the tax office.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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