Tinder is being used by criminals in order to sell illegal cigarettes in Australia. Due to tobacco being highly taxed in the country, smuggling tobacco products has become highly profitable for crime organizations because they can reap higher profit margins. This can have an impact on retailers that sell tobacco products because they are competing with the smuggled cigarette prices.
Key Takeaways:
- It seems criminals are always on the look-out for new ways to make a buck. Now it appears they have turned to online hook-up app Tinder to move stocks of illegal tobacco.
- According to the Herald Sun, the dating app is being used by tobacco traffickers in Victoria to sell cigarettes for $18 a packet.
- Tobacco Strike Team investigators have already seized more than 25 tonnes of smuggled tobacco and 50 million smuggled cigarettes.
“Tobacco is one of the most highly taxed commodities in Australia (and across the world) and because of that, it is attractive to serious and organised crime as one of the world’s most smuggled illegal goods.”
http://c-store.com.au/2016/12/13/swipe-left-on-illegal-smokes/
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