Murga, NSW: Massive illegal tobacco farm is raided by cops

Over 16 tonnes of illegal tobacco with an estimated tax value of nearly $30million has been seized by cops in one of the largest drug busts in the country’s history.

Police raided the illicit crop, which was being grown by a suspected criminal tobacco syndicate on a property in Murga, roughly 55km east of Parkes in the NSW central west, last Wednesday. 

Footage of the record bust shows a convoy of police cars swooping on the property before officers smash down the door with a battering ram.

Shouts of ‘police, search warrant!’ are heard as the officers flood through the door. 

Cops then tear across the fields in dirt bikes to inspect the massive plantation, which was roughly 20 acres in size.

They estimated the tobacco would have been worth $28million in taxes, meaning the actual value of the crop could be in the hundreds of millions.

At one stage a voice heard on a police radio says: ‘just confirm that no one’s hiding’.

No arrests were made in the raid and investigations are ongoing.

Video then shows the property being patrolled by sniffer dogs and drones. 

Huge tractors then come in to systematically destroy the crop fields.

A set of industrial scales were discovered near some farm buildings. 

Police inspect the fields of illicit tobacco crops believed to be grown by a criminal syndicate on a farm in Murga, in NSW’s central west

Tractors destroyed the crops after the police raid  

The raid police was conducted by state and federal detectives from Operation Phobetor in a joint investigation with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and the Australian Border Force (ABF).

Detective Superintendent Stuart Cadden, the Commander of Operation Phobetor, said the seizure had disrupted the supply chain and prevented profits from being funnelled into organised crime.

‘The tobacco is simply one source of income that organised criminals use to fund their other illicit activities,’ he said.

ATO Assistant Commissioner Justin Clarke explained that organised crime syndicates continue to orchestrate illicit tobacco growing operations around Australia.

‘These operations are not run by genuine farmers or landowners, but by criminals living and operating in local communities,’ he said.

‘Criminals who deal in illicit tobacco pose a serious threat to the Australian community. They use their profits to fund their lifestyles and engage in criminal behaviour well beyond the sale of illicit tobacco.

A set of industrial scales were discovered at the property 

‘Evading excise duty on tobacco costs the community millions of dollars that could be spent on essential community services.’

ABF Superintendent Sasha Barclay said criminal syndicates are increasingly turning to cultivating their own illicit tobacco crops in order to bolster supply as a direct result of the ABF’s highly effective detection and disruption work on illicit importations at the border.

‘What we’re seeing is more and more criminal syndicates are trying their hand at cultivation to keep up supply as ABF continues to increase the amount of illicit tobacco being detected and seized at the border,’ Superintendent Barclay said.

‘These criminal syndicates are sophisticated and run like a business, so they will do whatever it takes to ensure they have a supply and can continue to bring in a profit at the expense of legitimate business owners and the wider Australian community.’

It is estimated that in Australia the illegal tobacco trade is worth $822 million. 

It has been illegal to grow tobacco in Australia since 2006.

If convicted, growing tobacco carries a maximum penalty of up to 10 years imprisonment.

Spanning across a combined 100-acres, the crops and processed tobacco bales were located at three locations across the two states in Kyalite, NSW and Vinifera and Beverford in Victoria.