More than a million cigarettes seized, five arrested in black market crackdown

Five people have been arrested and more than a million cigarettes seized as part of the effort to crack down on the black market tobacco trade.

RNZ has been investigating the illicit cigarette trade in Auckland over the past three months, and have identified a number of shops selling the product at prices well below the retail value.

One East Auckland store RNZ visited was selling a packet for as low as $13, less than half the excise duty required by law to be paid.

The black market smokes don't include any of the quitline information or health warnings also required by law to cover at least 75 percent of the front.

Importing cigarettes without paying the excise duty is illegal, as is selling illicit smokes, and offenders can face a fine or prison time.

Speaking in Auckland on Wednesday, the illicit tobacco Action Group, formed earlier this year, said they had conducted their first joint operation since the group was established in May

The group, made up of Police, Customs, and Health officials, searched 21 properties, including eight stores and six homes in Auckland, Rotorua, and Waikato.

They believed the locations were linked to an illicit tobacco network.

Along with the seizure, they also recovered roughly $170,000 cash.

It was estimated that the 1.3 million cigarettes represented more than $2 million dollars in evaded tobacco excise.

Customs' assistant comptroller for intelligence and investigations, Terry Brown, said Health NZ had provided valuable intelligence through work they had been conducting at the start of the year.

Police support had enabled them to act on multiple search warrants, raiding nearly two dozen locations.

Brown said there were clear signs for black market tobacco in the community.

"The evident one is the price point," he said.

"Yes, there will be part of the population that see that as being a desireable thing, overriding any concerns they might about health and the content issues that have been described previously."

"The reality is, is that it is funding organised crime, and if people have that cognisance then they should be aware that buying that is actually funding organised crime," Brown said.

He believed bad actors from the Australian tobacco black market were looking to set up in New Zealand.