Police on Friday released footage of three attacks on tobacconists in northern NSW.
In one, burglars are shown driving a stolen car into the front of a shop, destroying several displays and stealing large amounts of cigarettes.
The same tobacconist in Tweed Heads was rammed again a month later before two men poured fuel inside the business and fled without setting it alight.
The following night, a Ballina tobacconist was set alight - the seventh arson attack across NSW since March 2023.
It follows 114 arsons in Victoria linked to Middle Eastern organised crime syndicates and outlaw motorcycle gangs fighting for control of the lucrative tobacco and vape black market.
Police across Australia warned in recent years about organised crime syndicates using illicit tobacco income to fund other illegal activities.
Both Victoria and NSW dialled up efforts this week to reduce illegal tobacco activity, force retailers to be licensed and increase fines for dodgy traders.
Under proposed laws, vendors in Victoria will also have to pass a fit-and-proper-persons test and can be refused a licence based on their history and associates.
Similar provisions were proposed by the NSW opposition but not supported by the state's Labor government in parliament this week.
Both major parties backed in substantial increases to illegal tobacco fines, expected to take effect in coming months.
A tobacco shop in Tweed Heads has twice been targeted by criminals. (Supplied by Nsw Police/AAP PHOTOS)
There are now calls for an inquiry into the link between illegal tobacco and organised crime and money laundering schemes, as well as who should police the space.
"These laws are approached through a public health lens but this has become such a bigger issue," NSW opposition health spokeswoman Kellie Sloane told AAP.
"It's now a full-blown crime crisis right across the country.
"We can't allow what has happened in Victoria ... to proliferate in NSW."
Retailers back NSW introducing a positive tobacco licence scheme, on the expectation it will make business safer and hobble criminal activity.
Positive tobacco licensing schemes require anyone selling smoking products to have a licence for retail or wholesale outlets where products are sold, with a fee set by government.
The current system only requires retailers, not wholesalers, to notify NSW Health that they're selling tobacco or e-cigarettes.
Every other state has a positive licence scheme except Victoria.
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