After Australia began "ramping up excise" from 2010, he says, the higher taxes gave criminals "a free kick into the market." By 2015, his team was making arrests but soon realised "we weren't going to arrest our way out, because it was so big." In some cases, Pike says, the problem only worsened: "Some of those criminals who we put in jail came out and became bigger and better and became actually key players in the illicit market." Pike points to Kazem Hamad, who was jailed for heroin smuggling, deported to Iraq, and then allegedly built a global crime syndicate "on his laptop from Iraq," becoming "the major importer and distributor of illicit tobacco in Australia." "The government's policy has basically meant that we're putting our health in the hands of criminals," he says
Catch Us Where You Can In 2026 Get ready to light up 2026 with us as we hit the road to share some smokin experiences
It is a stable, if silent, co-dependence
I cook alot and don't mind breathing a little olive oil
The most common ways people get HIV are by sharing needles used for drugs and by having vaginal or anal sex
