Properties at Undera and Arcadia were among properties raided in an operation that has seized more than $12 million worth of illicit tobacco.
The seizures were part of an investigation into the cultivation and distribution of illicit tobacco by the Australia Taxation Office and Victoria Police’s Taskforce Lunar.
With assistance from the ATO, a Commonwealth search warrant was executed at a remote Arcadia property on Tuesday, March 26.
A seven-acre illicit tobacco crop was located at the rear of an Arcadia property when police and the ATO searched it on March 26.
Police said the crop was worth a total avoided excise value of almost $9 million.
The dried weight was more than four-and-a-half tonnes, according to police.
There were no people present at the address, and the crop was subsequently ploughed under the seizure provisions of the Excise Act.
A second search was executed at a residential address in Undera on May 7.
Two large kilns were located at the rear of the property, which investigators will allege were utilised to dry illicit tobacco.
Almost two tonnes of dried illicit tobacco, worth more than $3.5 million, were seized from the address, police said.
Again, under the seizure provisions of the Excise Act, the illicit tobacco was disposed of.
Five firearms which were improperly stored at the property were also seized, and a 73-year-old man, not believed to be connected to this investigation, was served with a notice of suspension and proposal to cancel a firearms’ licence.
On June 17, as part of a joint investigation with Western Australia Police and with the assistance of the VIPER Taskforce, two warrants were executed in Werribee and one in Altona Meadows, also linked to this investigation.
About 50,000 allegedly illicit tobacco sticks, 30kg of loose-leaf tobacco, vapes and a CCTV system were seized from the Werribee addresses – one house and one tobacco store.
A 36-year-old Werribee man, believed to own the Werribee store, was interviewed in relation to possessing and producing illicit tobacco and is expected to be charged on summons.
Mobile phones were seized from a house at Altona Meadows.
Police will allege the properties searched are linked to a significant leader of an organised crime syndicate involved in the illicit tobacco network.
The investigation remains ongoing.
Anyone with information about illicit tobacco is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or report online at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au