Black-market cigarettes sell for half the excise tax, as crackdown nets $2 million haul

Illicit cigarettes are selling for $13 a packet in Auckland—undercutting the excise tax component alone. A government enforcement operation seized 1.3 million cigarettes worth $2 million in evaded excise in its first combined raid, arresting five people. Importing duty-free cigarettes or selling illicit stock carries fines to $20,000 and prison time.