Summary
Dubbed "the Flying Squad", Queensland Health's centralised compliance team are incredibly skilled in discovering hidden nooks in stores as they continue to fight against the supply and sale of illicit tobacco and vapes.
Hidden cabinets, secret compartments and vacuum cleaners are being used to conceal illicit tobacco and vapes in retail stores.
This is all in an effort to evade detection by the state’s centralised compliance team.
The team was formed in June last year with a sole focus of ensuring retailers comply with the smoking product supply laws in Queensland. The team supports Public Health Units across Queensland to scale up and increase inspections of smoking product retailers.
Dubbed “the Flying Squad”, the team is made up of a diverse group of former police officers, Border Force officials and senior environmental health officers from across Australia.
Compliance team leader Kirsty said the team are incredibly skilled in identifying non-compliant business owners and intercepting illegal products.
“These illegal operators try to make it a difficult task for us to track them down,” Kirsty said.
We are always working to piece together the jigsaw puzzle to find out who the owners of non-compliant businesses are.
“It’s only a matter of time before they’re caught, and no matter how many attempts they make to hide their illicit products, we will find them.
“Our passion for protecting public health and dedication for enforcing controls on illicit tobacco and vapes will far outlast their profit and willingness to undertake illegal activity.”
While the team has various work and life experiences, Kirsty said one team member who made the career switch from a teacher aid to environmental health witnessed first-hand the damage nicotine addiction has on the health of students.
“She saw some students unable to make it through a 70-minute lesson without going outside to have puff to get that nicotine hit,” Kirsty said.
“Lying to teachers and going as far as pushing others out of the way to run out of a classroom so that they can have their vape.
“She realised just how significant the issue is and developed a passion for tobacco control.
“The team loves making a real difference in preventing young people from developing nicotine addiction at a young age, we all find it extremely rewarding.
“That’s exactly what our team does every single day.
“Even though we have come so far in reducing smoking rates, there is still a long way to go.
“The more people we can prevent from taking up smoking and being exposed to second-hand smoke, the better.”
Some of the team’s successes includes joining a multi-agency operation with the Gold Coast Public Health Unit, Queensland Police Service, Australian Federal Police, Therapeutic Goods Administration and Australian Border Force.
Inspection of four stores suspected of supplying illicit tobacco resulted in seizure of over 65,000 cigarettes in August 2024.
In February 2025, Metro South Public Health Unit officers organised a multi-agency operation, which involved two simultaneous entry inspections, and the execution of a warrant at a nearby business.
The centralised compliance team was able to provide support to this unit, with the operation resulting in the seizure of almost one million cigarettes and approximately 25,000 vapes.
The Flying Squad is also working with public health units to undertake interim closures of businesses that continue to be non-compliant, which has become an effective tool in preventing the supply of vapes and illicit tobacco.
While law enforcement primarily targets illicit drugs, the squad zeroes in on non-compliant smoking product suppliers, particularly those that are unlicensed.
In 2024, Queensland Health enforcement officers undertook 1905 inspections, resulting in 2321 penalty infringement notices (PINS), 268 warnings and 363 improvement notices being issued statewide.
Under the Tobacco and Other Smoking Products Act 1998 Queensland Health can issue an interim closure order for a store for up to 72 hours where there is sufficient evidence of continued illicit tobacco or vape supply.
Over 30 interim closure orders have been issued across Queensland since the authority commenced under the Act.
Other enforcement options for businesses continuing to not comply with the Act include court order for a long-term closure (up to 6 months) or an injunction to restrict business operation.
Between 1 July and 28 February 2025, more than 15.2 million illicit cigarettes (worth almost $12.2 million), 172,356 vaping goods (worth over $6 million) and more than 3.4 tonne of loose tobacco (worth over $2.3million) have been seized across Queensland.
To report the supply of illicit tobacco or vapes or learn more, visit the website here or call 13 QGOV (13 74 68).