Illawarra shops closed down in illegal tobacco blitz
The NSW Government has issued closure orders for stores from Woonona to Albion Park Rail
A number of outlets across the Illawarra have been punished for selling illegal tobacco products.
NSW Health has confirmed that, as part of a state and nationwide blitz, stores in Wollongong, Woonona, Fairy Meadow and Albion Park Rail were ordered to cease operating immediately. They remain closed today.
The Closure Orders, clearly displayed on the stores' windows, say the reason for the action was due to the sale of illicit tobacco.
Late last year the NSW Government established a new dedicated enforcement unit to strengthen compliance and enforcement of tobacco and vaping laws across the state.
The new unit within NSW Health has been bolstered with the addition of 30 staff this year. There’s now a team of 78 staff, operating across metropolitan, rural and remote locations to ensure a consistent, calibrated and effective compliance approach.
During a six-month period in 2025, NSW Health conducted 700 retail store inspections and seized more than 90,000 illegal nicotine vapes, more than six million cigarettes and more than a tonne of other illicit tobacco products.
The Minister for Health and Minister for the Illawarra, Keira MP Ryan Park, said: “The government has introduced some of the toughest illegal tobacco penalties in Australia.”
NSW Health confirmed its recent Illawarra crackdown has resulted in the closures of the A2Z Convenience Shop on the Princes Highway, Albion Park Rail; Yummy Mart at The Circle in Woonona; Fairy Meadow Tobacconist on the Princes Highway, Fairy Meadow and two EzyMart convenience stores on Crown Street in Wollongong.
Retailers have also been shut down for illicit tobacco sales in Bowral, Moss Vale, Mittagong and Picton.
The offending retail outlets in Wollongong will remain closed for 90 days until 30 June 2026.
Border Force seizes illegal products
The quantities of illegal tobacco products flooding the Australian market is now quite staggering.
In the four months to 31 March 2026, Australian Border Force officers detected more than 786 million illicit cigarettes and more than 347 tonnes of loose-leaf tobacco.
In just two days in January, officers seized more than 210,000 vapes in NSW through cargo consignments from China. Soon after, a shipping container described as containing yoga mats and eye masks was targeted for examination in NSW, where ABF officers found over 9.9 tonnes of concealed loose-leaf tobacco.
“Our approach to illegal tobacco is more boots on the ground, tougher penalties, and more powers to close down bad actors,” Minister Park said.
