Police have arrested 13 people — some with alleged links to a Middle Eastern crime group — over the cigarette war that has led to the fire bombings of dozens of tobacco stores across Australia.

On Monday, Victoria Police executed six search warrants, including at an address in Sunbury in Melbourne’s north, where they said about 2.4 million illicit cigarettes were seized, along with 15 firearms, a stolen vehicle and a gel blaster. A further 50,000 illicit cigarettes, 30 kilograms of loose tobacco, vapes, a crossbow, ammunition, cash and drugs, including cocaine, steroids and magic mushrooms, were seized from other Melbourne addresses in Wollert, Collingwood, Werribee and Altona Meadows, investigators said.

Meanwhile in WA, police said 5.9 million illicit cigarettes, $1.7 million in cash, five vehicles with a combined value of $500,000, and 41,000 vapes were part of a significant haul seized during searches at private homes, storage units and retail outlets. The head of the syndicate with alleged links to a Middle Eastern crime — a 29-year-old man previously from Victoria — moved to Perth two years ago to help establish an illegal tobacco network, police said.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-21/victoria-police-tobacco-war-arrests-wa-police/104007356