Illegal tobacco increasingly hard to spot, with some fakes featuring Australian health warnings

Governments have been warned that the black-market tobacco trade is thriving as illegal tobacco becomes increasingly difficult to spot. Criminal organisations in south-east Asia are producing sophisticated counterfeit tobacco packaging, with some fake products even featuring Australian health warnings.

This development highlights the growing challenges faced by authorities in combating illicit tobacco networks, as the high level of sophistication in recent counterfeits allows illegal sellers to blend more easily into the mainstream market.