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

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

Police raided an illegal crop grown by a suspected criminal tobacco syndicate on a property in Murga, about 55km east of Parkes in central western NSW, last Wednesday.

Footage from the record attempt shows a convoy of police cars entering the site before officers smash the door with a battering ram.

Screaming ‘police, search warrant!’ are heard as the agents pour through the door.

Police officers then tear across the fields on dirt bikes to inspect the massive plantation, which was about 20 acres in size.

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

At one point, a voice on a police radio said, “Confirm no one is hiding.”

No arrests have been made in the raid and the investigation is ongoing.

Video shows how the building is patrolled by sniffer dogs and drones.

Huge tractors then come in to systematically destroy the fields.

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

Police inspect the fields of illicit tobacco crops believed to have been grown by a criminal syndicate on a farm in Murga, central western NSW

Tractors destroyed the crops after the police raid

The raid policing was carried out 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 disrupted the supply chain and prevented profits from being funneled to organized crime.

“The tobacco is simply a source of income that organized criminals use to fund their other illegal activities,” he said.

ATO Assistant Commissioner Justin Clarke explained that organized crime syndicates continue to orchestrate illicit tobacco farming across Australia.

“These operations are not run by real farmers or landowners, but by criminals who live and operate in local communities,” he said.

“Criminals trading illicit tobacco pose a serious threat to the Australian community. They use their profits to fund their lifestyles and engage in criminal behavior that goes far beyond the sale of illicit tobacco.

A set of industrial scales was discovered near the property

“Tobacco tax evasion costs the community millions of dollars that could be spent on essential community services.”

ABF Superintendent Sasha Barclay said criminal syndicates are increasingly growing their own illicit tobacco crops to bolster supplies as a direct result of the ABF’s highly effective detection and disruption work on illicit imports at the border.

“What we see is that more and more criminal syndicates are doing their best to keep cultivation up, while ABF continues to increase the amount of illegal tobacco being tracked down and seized at the border,” Superintendent Barclay said.

“These criminal syndicates are sophisticated and operate like a business, so they will do everything they can to ensure they have stock and can continue to make a profit at the expense of legitimate business owners and the wider Australian community.”

The illicit tobacco trade in Australia is estimated to be 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 in prison.

The washed and processed tobacco bales, spread over a combined 100 acres, were located at three locations across the two states in Kyalite, NSW and Vinifera and Beverford in Victoria.