Heat on tobacco crackdown

Key points

• An expert warns that arson attacks on Melbourne businesses will continue unless authorities move beyond reactive measures against the illicit tobacco trade. A recent spate of suspected firebombings has hit businesses and vehicles in the city's west, including Melton, Taylors Lakes and Deer Park.
• Victoria Police have closed 61 stores over the past four weeks for selling illicit tobacco, with alleged links to organised crime.
• Deakin University criminologist James Martin says violence often rises after law enforcement crackdowns and that the underlying demand for nicotine remains unaddressed.