03/12/2025
International cooperation uncovers major v**e smugling operation.
Australian Border Force (ABF) officers posted overseas in Beijing have prevented over 600,000 illegal v**es from hitting our streets after information sharing led to the referral of almost 70 high risk containers.
The majority of the seized v**es - which had a street value of approximately AUD $30M, arrived into NSW between September and October 2025, and was the direct result of effective collaboration and cooperation between and ABF officers based overseas and their international counterparts.
The information allowed ABF officers to identify several other shipments related to the initial referrals, with majority of the containers falsely described as items such as glass bottles, lamps, toy cars, balls, curtains and books in an attempt to evade border detection.
The efforts of the ABF’s international network have been critical in enabling engagement with international l authorities, fostering trusted relationships, and providing timely exchanges of information in support of offshore disruption and detections at the border.
Between 1st January and 31st October 2025, the ABF has received over 1,000 referrals from offshore counterparts, stopping over 524 million cigarette sticks, over 1 million v**es and over 918 tonnes of loose-leaf to***co from entering Australia.
Acting Commander of Targeting, Laura Uttley said a key element of the ABF’s strategy for combatting illicit to***co and v**es and other prohibited goods is to disrupt the flow into Australia as far upstream from the border as possible.
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