00:02Ram raided with a stolen car just before dawn, this tobacconist on Victoria Street was the intended target of arsonists,
00:10but not the only casualty.
00:13The blaze that started at the front of the store quickly spreading, reducing some businesses to ash.
00:30It's believed to be the follow through from an organised crime group known as the Commission, after demanding the owners
00:37make contact with them just days ago.
00:39Up to 10 stores were damaged along the busy strip, taking a major effort by firefighters to bring it under
00:45control.
00:46There's both tenancies at the front and the back of the premises and it took 25 fire appliances to bring
00:51it under control, so it was a significant fire for us.
00:53With staff stuck without work and neighbouring businesses forced to shut their doors today, the latest attack in Victoria's tobacco
01:01wars has left them on edge.
01:03I think that this is going to be as serious as an unterrorist attack.
01:06I just saw black ashes. It's really badly affected, yeah, like they've done a really, really good job on destroying
01:14the livelihood of these poor business owners.
01:16The blaze is just the latest in a string of fire bombings that have reignited the fight for control over
01:22the black market smoke trade.
01:24Another tobacconist on Bridge Road was completely gutted by fire last week, and just days before that, similar scenes at
01:31a tobacco store in Mentone.
01:34No arrests have been made in this latest attack, but police say the car used in this ram raid was
01:39stolen from an address in the Boroondara area last week.
01:42On top of those leads and with one of the main orchestrators of this conflict here in Melbourne behind bars
01:48overseas, exactly who is ordering this latest wave of attacks will be a key question for investigators.
Comments