'Innocent parcels' caught up illicit tobacco bust

Amy Zhang spent 300,000 yuan ($62,000) on a custom-made set of kitchen cabinets from China for her new home in Melbourne.The cabinets were shipped on July 7 and were expected to arrive in a month's time.While they did arrive in Australia a few weeks later, they have been held in quarantine in Sydney since.Ms Zhang believes the logistics company handling her parcel has been affected by a recent crackdown on alleged importations of illicit tobacco and vapes into Australia. The Multi Agency Strike Team (MAST) says it has dismantled two criminal networks. (Supplied: Australian Federal Police)Earlier this month, a multi-agency strike team including detectives from NSW and federal law enforcement agencies dismantled two alleged multimillion-dollar criminal networks and charged seven people. The ABC has confirmed one of the seven people was 53-year-old Peter Ping Xie, who is also the director of Top Logistics Australia (TLA), the company supposed to be delivering Ms Zhang's kitchen cabinets.Mr Xie has been accused of multiple offences, including obtaining financial advantages by deception, knowingly dealing with proceeds of crime and possessing an unauthorised pistol.Ms Zhang tried to look up her cabinets' tracking number on TLA's website, but the latest status said "shipment info received" on July 16.She also contacted the shipping company, which told her the parcel arrived in Sydney on July 22 and was with the Australian government's quarantine and inspection service.Ms Zhang said the builders had been waiting for the cabinets to arrive to complete the kitchen and it was costing her hundreds of dollars to rent portable toilets for the workers, fencing and cameras every week the delivery was delayed."My construction site has basically stopped, and everyone is waiting for the cabinets to arrive," she said, adding that there was no indication when the furniture would be delivered.Police seized more than $2.5 million worth of illicit tobacco products during multiple searches. (Supplied: Australian Federal Police)An Australian Border Force (ABF) spokesperson told the ABC: "As a result of Strikeforce Borderdale, the ABF issued the immediate suspension of depot licences in Sydney and Brisbane, with a notice of intent to cancel in Melbourne for a national freight forwarding company."The ABF did not name the company in its response to the ABC.The ABC also asked the ABF how many legitimate parcels were being held at the impacted depots and what would happen to those goods.The ABF declined to comment, citing the fact the matter was before the courts.Book Week costumes fail to arrive ABF suspended the depot licences for a logistics company caught up in the crackdown. (Supplied: Australian Federal Police)Many people with similar experiences to Ms Zhang have taken to social media to express concerns about delayed parcels.Some said their packages of ski clothing and children's costumes for Book Week had not arrived in time.Sydney mother Mory Zhao is also waiting for a cubby house she bought from China for her four-year-old son.The item plus shipping cost about 40,000 yuan ($8,300).Mory Zhao says her four-year-old son had been looking forward to the cubby house. (Supplied: Mory Zhao)It left China on July 29 and was due to arrive in Sydney on August 9 but its tracking status on the shipping company's portal has not changed since it was sent."My child has been looking forward to it every day … and then this happened. It's really frustrating," Ms Zhao said.Ms Zhao said her items were shipped as part of a consolidated order with other people's goods, so she could not check the status on the TLA's portal.On Chinese social media platform RedNote, several people posted TLA tracking information showing their shipments had arrived in Australia, but were still awaiting customs clearance.Other users posted screenshots showing the status as "customs clearance withdrawn".The ABC's calls to the TLA went unanswered and the company also did not respond to the ABC's email enquiries.TLA's online customer service is also available.'One-stop shops' could create risksHeadquartered in Sydney, TLA said on its website the company is a "one-stop logistics solution provider". Its depots in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane have a combined space of more than 15,000 square metres.Sharon Kwok, a criminology lecturer from Western Sydney University, said "one-stop shop" logistics companies could make supply chains more efficient but could also create opportunities for organised crime if a part of that chain was compromised.Seven people have been charged as part of the crackdown. (Supplied: Australian Federal Police)"If you have a company that can handle everything in one place, there are fewer [third parties] involved compared with a traditional logistics company," Dr Kwok said."There is a high risk that it could be exploited."Dr Kwok believed that logistics companies could be exploited by organised crime syndicates looking to make large profit margins from illicit tobacco and vaping products.The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) estimated that illicitly sourced tobacco accounted for 80 per cent of tobacco consumed in Australia in 2025, up from 12 per cent in 2017.Kevin Liu, a logistics company owner and industry insider, said it was positive to see the dismantling of the alleged criminal network connected to the logistics company.He said logistics companies involved in illegal activities could also affect legitimate businesses.Kevin Liu is the managing director of Pinle Logistics and has worked in the China-Australia freight industry for more than a decade. (Supplied: Kevin Liu)"They can generate substantial profits through illegal activities, so they don't necessarily need to make money from their legitimate operations."That gives them the ability to operate on very thin margins, or even at a loss, which can seriously distort competition and disrupt the industry."Ms Zhang said she supported the crackdown on the criminal syndicate but wanted authorities to distinguish between illicit goods and legitimate shipments."We support the police operation, but it shouldn't affect innocent people," she said."They should release the innocent parcels first."