Police are urging businesses selling cigarettes and tobacco to store them in secure vaults bolted to the floor after thousands of dollars worth of tobacco products were stolen from a Northland supermarket.
Three thieves disguised in hoodies smashed their way through the front door of the Maungaturoto Four Square on Hurndell St about 12.55am yesterday. The trio used a bar to force open a locked cabinet before carting off hundreds of packets in what looked like a large sack. The businesses had been locked and the alarm set by the owners when they left about 10pm on Monday. Maungaturoto police Senior Constable Llew Smart said the thieves spent less than a minute grabbing the smokes before fleeing. "Businesses really need to secure these items almost in safes or boxes that can be bolted to the floor," Mr Smart said.
"It's about making it too hard for them to steal it."
He urged anyone who may have noticed any suspicious behaviour of vehicles in the area to contact police. He also said anyone who was offered cheap tobacco products to phone police immediately. The owner of the store did not want to be named but said he was still collating the exact figures for the stolen product. "It's a very stressful time for us and I'm working with the police," he said.
On January 1 tobacco and cigarettes rose by a 10 per cent due to a tax increase, the third consecutive annual rise. The tax increases started in 2011 and over the past three years the tax has increased by 40 per cent. A pack of 20 cigarettes on average is about $20, while a 30 gram pouch of tobacco is around $40.
