Western Australia has ordered six stores to close and seized more than 140,000 illegal cigarettes under new tobacco laws that took effect this week. The closures include four shops in the Perth metro area and two in regional WA, with details published on the health department website.
Authorities confiscated 5.2 kilograms of loose-leaf tobacco, about 141,000 cigarettes, and 613 vapes from the six stores. The new laws allow authorities to close stores caught selling illicit tobacco and vapes for up to 90 days and impose higher penalties on offenders.
WA Health Minister Meredith Hammat said the results in the first 72 hours demonstrate the effectiveness of the legislation. “We’ve introduced some of the toughest laws in the country, and now we’re getting on with the job of making sure we stamp out the illicit tobacco trade,” she said.
The first closure order followed a police raid on a Kalgoorlie-Boulder barber shop on Wednesday, where almost 2,000 illegal cigarettes and around three kilograms of loose tobacco were seized. On Friday, a search warrant in Bunbury led to another closure, and four more were issued in Perth after targeted inspections by WA Health.
Laura Hunter, chief executive of the Australian Council of Smoking and Health, welcomed the enforcement but called for a timeline for the second part of the legislation, expected later this year. She noted that WA lags behind Queensland and South Australia, which have landlord termination powers and penalties for landlords who ignore illegal activity.
WA Police Minister Reece Whitby warned other shops involved in the illicit trade, linking it to organized crime. “If you keep trading illicit tobacco and illicit vapes, you will be caught and you will be dealt with,” he said. Investigations into the six stores are ongoing, with further charges possible.
