A worker at a Wodonga gift shop selling illegal tobacco refused to give up the name of his boss as detectives seized almost 20 kilograms of chop chop from the store.
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Police raided Aussie Gift and Accessories for the second time in six months on the morning of June 9.
Shane Bear, 45, was the only employee in the shop and faced court on Tuesday to plead guilty to possessing proceeds of crime.
Prosecutor Leading Senior Constable Penny Lawler said police seized 19.5 kilograms of loose tobacco and 51,200 illegally made cigarettes.
She said customers continued to walk past police during the raid and attempt to purchase cigarettes.
Hand-written records, kept under the counter, revealed the shop had made $3900 the previous day from tobacco and cigarette sales.
“He understood the cigarettes were not legal, but couldn’t give an explanation,” Leading Senior Constable Lawler said.
She said he refused to tell detectives the name of the store’s owner.
Bear worked at the store alone and sold the items as he was trained, taking $800 in cash at the end of each week as a wage.
His Barrister said her client did not deal with tobacco deliveries – that was always completed after he had left the store.
She argued Bear had been unemployed since a back injury ended his 20 years working as a plasterer and accepted the role at the shop when it was offered by a friend.
“That’s the person who would be gaining an inordinate amount of benefit,” she said.
Magistrate Stella Stuthridge accepted Bear was not the main offender and placed him on a two-year good behaviour bond.
