Dozens of health workers are pounding the footpath to smoke out illegal tobacco shops as efforts to torch out the black market increase.
NSW has further bolstered its war on illicit tobacco sales, setting up a dedicated unit staffed with 48 compliance officers housed within its health department.
The Centre for Regulation and Enforcement would work closely with Australian Border Force, the Therapeutic Goods Administration and police on intelligence sharing, ensuring a unified approach to enforcement.
NSW Health has seized about 90,000 nicotine vapes, e-liquids and pouches with an estimated street value of about $3 million in the first half of 2025, it said on Thursday.
It also confiscated more than six million cigarettes and more than one tonne of other illicit tobacco products, totalling about $6.8 million.
About 150 fines were issued over the half-year.
"We have a hell of a long way to go before we can say that this job is finished," Health Minister Ryan Park told a budget estimates hearing on Thursday.
"What I don't want to see now is an uptake in illegal tobacco use or vaping use as a result of the ability for some of these businesses to pop up."
He repeated Premier Chris Minns' criticisms of the spiralling tobacco excise, controlled by the federal government.
Projected revenue from the tobacco tax is expected to be about $7.4 billion, down sharply from $12.6 billion the previous year.
More than 23 tonnes of illicit tobacco and nearly seven million cigarettes were seized nationwide, according to official figures released in July by the Australian Taxation Office.
The state government argues the federal tax on legal cigarettes has fuelled massive growth in the black market sales of tobacco products.
The health minister highlighted a bill before parliament that would grant bolster planning and council officials to clamp down on dodgy smoke dens.
A new offence for commercial possession of illicit tobacco, carrying a maximum penalty of seven years in prison or a $1.5 million fine, will be created while selling any tobacco unlicensed could warrant a $660,000 fine.
The proposed laws, introduced on August 5, also empower landlords to evict tenants selling illicit cigarettes.
