Australia Seizes Nearly 400,000 Illegal E-cigarettes, Largest Record This Year
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Australia seizes nearly 400,000 illegal e-cigarettes, largest record this year
The Australian Border Force (ABF) prevented nearly 400,000 disposable e-cigarettes from being imported into Australia in one week, worth more than A$12.4 million. It is the largest "border" seizure of disposable e-cigarettes since Australia introduced new laws to crack down on imported e-cigarette products on January 1 this year.
According to Australian media 9 News reported on May 25, in less than a week, the Australian Border Force (ABF) has intercepted nearly 400,000 disposable e-cigarettes entering Australia, with a value of more than 12.4 million Australian dollars (8.22 million US dollars).
Nearly 400,000 e-cigarettes were seized from three containers between Monday and Thursday after border agents discovered anomalies in the cargo while inspecting containers in Sydney.
ABF said a total of 37,800 single-use e-cigarette products were found in declared shipments on Monday. Police also found a second container containing 18 pallets containing 174,960 disposable e-cigarettes.
On Thursday, officials discovered an additional 177,120 disposable e-cigarettes in a third container.
The total number of e-cigarettes seized reached 389,880, with an estimated black market value of more than A$12.4 million (US$8.22 million).
ABF said all three shipping containers came from Asia. It said in a statement that this was the largest "border" seizure of disposable e-cigarettes since Australia introduced new laws to crack down on imported e-cigarette products on January 1 this year. The agency's acting trade commander Asha Patwardhan said Border Force would continue to take strong proactive enforcement and interdiction measures, putting the health and safety of the Australian community first.
