How Criminal Gangs Are "Piggybacking" on Legitimate Businesses to Flood Australia with Illegal Tobacco

An investigation published today by The Australian has uncovered widespread "piggybacking" — a tactic where organised crime groups fraudulently use the identities of legitimate businesses to import tonnes of illicit tobacco, costing the government billions in lost revenue.
 
Freight & Trade Alliance (FTA) Director Paul Zalai was quoted "Customs brokers are a highly regulated profession and overwhelmingly operate with the highest integrity. The same applies to customs officers, who face rigorous integrity checks to ensure accountability."
 
"While no system is completely immune from corruption, I would stress that the bigger issue is not individual misconduct, but the outdated technology that industry and the Australian Border Force are forced to rely on. We are trying to combat 21st-century organised crime with 20-year-old systems. That's where the real vulnerability lies."
 
SOURCE: How criminal gangs are 'piggybacking' on legitimate businesses to flood Australia with illegal tobacco [PAYWALL FOR FULL ARTICLE]
 
DIGITAL IDENTIFICATION – MANDATORY SEA CARGO EFT PAYMENTS
 
FTA and Australian Peak Shippers Association (APSA) representatives joined more than 70 government and industry representatives yesterday (11 November 2025) in the Trade and Goods Compliance Advisory Group - Piggybacking workshop.
 
The meeting identified many potential digital identification solutions, all having significant merit. The concern expressed by FTA and APSA is that any technological reform is likely to take considerable time for implementation.
 
By way of background, FTA and APSA provided a comprehensive submission with extended commentaries and 28 specific recommendations in response to questions posed in the Simplified Trade System (STS) Consultation Paper (released Monday 26 May 2023).
 
As reiterated at yesterday's meeting, one of the recommendations FTA and APSA made to the STS was that the Australian Border Force (ABF) limit the ability of customs brokerages in making EFT payments of duty and / or GST on behalf of client importers, forcing the cargo owner to provide financial banking data direct to the ABF, to reduce opportunities of identity theft and 'piggyback' illegal imports consignments.
 

 
One of the attractive features of this proposal is that no Integrated System (ICS) changes are required.
 
To address the potential complexities of the air cargo express environment, this concept could be initially trialled in the sea cargo environment only, this being an area of trade more commonly targeted for illegal tobacco piggyback shipments.
 
INTERIM MEASURES
 
In addition to the above, and until appropriate technological reforms are introduced, FTA and APSA recommended during yesterday's meeting the development of a fact sheet and CPD training module outlining the minimum due diligence requirements and appropriate actions when dealing with identified 'piggyback' consignments.
 
Following discussions with Broker Licensing today, we are confident that these elements will be effectively incorporated into the Mandatory CPD session to be delivered by the ABF from 1 January 2026 (further detail about the CPD training to follow in the form of an Australian Customs Notice).
 
Further interim measures recommended by FTA and APSA include:

• The restoration and review of BorderWatch, to enhance the reporting of suspicious or fraudulent activity; and
• The delivery of a fact sheet for importers inadvertently affected by 'piggyback' consignments, providing guidance on recovering associated costs and mitigating reputational impacts.