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Illegal tobacco in Australia is no longer a hidden problem. It is a highly organised, violent and profitable criminal industry — and it is moving through the same global supply chains that legitimate businesses rely on every day.
In a recent episode of Real Crime with Adam Shand, Kelly Crossley, Director of Transitainer WA, shared her firsthand experience from inside the freight forwarding industry — a position that places her at the frontline of how illicit tobacco enters Australia.
Her message was clear: this is not a problem happening at the margins of the supply chain — it is happening inside it.
As a licensed freight forwarding director, Kelly works daily with containerised imports, customs documentation and border compliance. From this vantage point, she sees how organised crime groups exploit weaknesses in the system — not through crude smuggling tactics, but through sophisticated identity theft and document manipulation.
One of the most common methods involves the theft of legitimate Australian Business Numbers (ABNs). Criminal syndicates impersonate real companies, forge supporting documents and lodge shipments that appear compliant on the surface.
Often, the legitimate business has no idea their identity has been hijacked.
“These aren’t backyard operations,” Kelly explained during the interview. “Everything looks legitimate. The ABN is real. The paperwork is clean. If you’re not actively looking for anomalies, it can pass straight through.”
Kelly highlighted a critical imbalance in the system:
freight forwarders and customs brokers carry enormous legal exposure, while the criminals behind the shipments remain largely insulated.
If a false declaration is lodged — even unknowingly — the penalties fall on the licensed operator. Meanwhile, organised crime absorbs seizures as a cost of doing business.
“The crooks make the money,” Kelly said, “but the compliance risk sits with us.”
This pressure has contributed to a growing shortage of experienced customs brokers, with many leaving the industry due to escalating risk, liability and regulatory burden.
While enforcement agencies continue to make arrests and seize product, Kelly reinforced what many in industry already know: seizures do not disrupt demand.
As long as consumers can buy illicit tobacco for a fraction of the legal price, supply will continue to flow. Criminal syndicates simply replace lost shipments and personnel.
Former AFP officer Rowan Pike echoed this during the podcast, noting that without addressing policy settings — particularly excise — enforcement will always be reactive.
Kelly agreed, adding that from the supply chain perspective, Australia has effectively become a global target.
“When the profit margins are that high, criminals will find a way. They always do.”
Kelly also drew attention to how widespread the illegal retail market has become. Illicit tobacco outlets are no longer hidden — they are operating openly in suburbs, near schools, and even close to police stations.
This normalisation erodes public trust, puts shopkeepers at risk, and creates an environment where organised crime becomes embedded in everyday communities.
From Kelly’s perspective, the downstream violence and intimidation seen across Australia is the inevitable result of policy-driven demand colliding with organised supply.
One of Kelly’s strongest points was that illegal tobacco is no longer just a health issue — it is now a supply chain integrity issue.
Criminals are exploiting the same global trade systems that legitimate importers depend on. Each successful shipment undermines confidence in border controls, compliance frameworks and industry participants doing the right thing.
“This isn’t about one bad actor,” Kelly said. “It’s about a system that’s being gamed at scale.”
Kelly’s decision to speak publicly was not about politics — it was about reality.
From her position in freight forwarding, she sees the consequences upstream, long before illicit tobacco appears on retail shelves. She also sees the growing strain placed on legitimate operators trying to comply in an increasingly hostile environment.
“If we don’t address the policy drivers,” she warned, “we’re just going to keep chasing our tails — while organised crime gets stronger.”
Kelly Crossley’s interview offers a rare, grounded perspective on illegal tobacco — not from theory, but from inside the supply chain itself.
Her message is confronting but clear:
until Australia aligns policy, enforcement and economic reality, illicit tobacco will continue to flow — and the damage will keep spreading.
This is not just a warning from law enforcement.
It is a warning from industry — from the frontline.
