‘We are trying to survive’: Tobacco wars hit innocent business owners

When business owner Sam Pande woke in the early hours one morning to find a series of missed calls on his phone, he immediately knew something was wrong.

A call from police told him his office had been hit by a homemade Molotov cocktail.

But it was not until he and his business partner and wife, Miral Ghadiyali, saw their Adelaide office, that they understood the true extent of the damage.

“There was no electricity so we were waiting for the sun to rise so we can have a little bit of light so we can see … and it was so shocking, seriously it was so shocking, that damage has happened to our office,” Ms Ghadiyali said.

The fire reacted with gas in an air-conditioner and exploded through the office, melting a computer monitor and keyboard into puddles of barely recognisable plastic.

“Now every time, every morning when I wake up, I feel like, ‘Oh, I have to go to office … and then I realise I don’t have an office,'” Ms Ghadiyali said.

“Then that makes me so emotional.”

South Australia Police believes the arson attack was meant for the tobacco business next door.

It’s one of 19 firebombs targeting businesses and vehicles in Adelaide since July 1.

The attacks began to escalate across the city in September.

South Australia Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said the firebombings were intimidation tactics being used by three crime syndicates, two of which are from interstate, in their battle to control a black market in illegal tobacco and vapes.

“These criminal networks have established premises in South Australia, so they’re looking to ensure they’re getting the lion share of the market, or leveraging some form of payment from those stores that are not selling their product,” the police commissioner told a press conference in mid-October.

An underground tobacco war has also been waging in the eastern states in recent years and has jumped the border into South Australia, not only resulting in the numerous arson attacks, but also leading to a growth in new tobacco stores.

Authorities estimate there are now more than 200 tobacco stores in Adelaide alone.

Australian Association of Convenience Stores chief executive Theo Foukkare said the high price of legal tobacco had led to a situation where one in three packets purchased in Australia was illegal.

“The reason we have the tobacco wars playing out all around the country is due to failed federal policy on the tobacco excise as well as the effective prohibition of vaping products,” he said.

Mr Foukkare’s sentiments are part of a growing call to reduce federal tax on tobacco to cut the legal price for smokers, but not everyone agrees.

South Australia’s Consumer Affairs Minister Andrea Michaels prefers a different approach.

“It’s a health issue. We don’t necessarily want to reduce excise and encourage people to start smoking again,” Ms Michaels said.

“It’s still the leading cause of preventable death in Australia.”

Last week, legislation aimed at penalising illegal sellers passed in SA Parliament. It increased fines up to $1.5 million and boosted powers for Ms Michaels to shut down stores for up to six months.

The government has also invested $16 million in a joint police and consumer affairs task force under the moniker Operation Eclipse.

The operation’s tactical commander Detective Chief Inspector Brett Featherby said it was designed “to dismantle and disrupt those syndicates and prevent further violence and arson that is currently occurring”.

The joint task force has also turned its attention to the roads, which officers said was the main route illegal tobacco was making its way into the state.

In recent weeks, police stopped trucks in Tailem Bend, Monteith and Port Augusta.

All those arrested and charged were men from interstate.

Major roads are also a focus for New South Wales’ Barrier Police District, which District Commander Superintendent David Cooper said had stations in Broken Hill and smaller communities across the state’s far west.

“We’re on the juncture of a number of major highways in and out of interstate. I think that’s certainly added to the presence of those products,” he said.

Like their SA counterparts, Barrier police have confiscated millions of dollars of contraband in the region.

“In the last six months, we’ve had seven or eight seizures at both commercial premises, and also seizures on the highway,” Superintendent Cooper said.

“We have our hands on it, but I would be very confident that each time we take one out of play, another one pops up. So we’ll be continuing our focus on it.”

Chief Inspector Featherby agreed.

“It’s clearly evident that we do have illicit tobacco shops establishing in the regions … and pressure will be placed on those persons operating in those areas to prevent them from actually getting a foothold in those country regions,” he said.

He said SA Police was working closely with interstate government and law enforcement agencies, often on a daily basis.

The Australian Association of Convenience Stores said it was not enough.

Mr Foukkare is calling for a national approach to fight what he describes as a “tidal wave” of illegal products.

“We need a coordinated effort to be able to tackle this, with one licensing system, [and] one enforcement agency,” he said.

“Unless we see a significant increase in enforcement [and] prosecutions, [a] potential change to the federal policies around the tobacco excise, as well as the vaping restrictions, I think that in years ahead, the legal market will cease to exist.”

Meanwhile, those already caught in the crossfire try to pick up the pieces and hope the next casualty is not a human life.

“We just don’t want to be another business who just go into administration because of this kind of incident … so we are trying to fight, we are trying to survive. We are trying to uphold ourself,” Mr Pande said.