ISTANBUL

Australian Health Minister Mark Butler said on Friday that the country's tobacco market has "exploded" into the biggest public health threat.

"The black market has absolutely exploded around the country. There's no question about that over the last couple of years," Butler said during a radio interview with 5AA.

Butler stressed that recently, "organized crime" took a "stranglehold" over the illicit tobacco market.

"It started in Melbourne, and it spread right through the country. It means that there is violence and arson taking place as rival gangs try to take control of what is a very high revenue market for them," he said, underscoring that "organized crime" funds other criminal activities, such as sex trafficking and drug trafficking.

"From a health minister's perspective, it is now the biggest threat to our most important public health program, which is to try to help people stop smoking, because we know how many preventable deaths it causes," Butler said.

Australia had announced an AUD156.7 million boost ($102 million) to tackle the "relentless" illicit tobacco trade in March.

A record 2.5 tons of cocaine was seized off New Caledonia from an Australia-bound ship in July.

In June, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), in its report, said Australia and New Zealand have the highest prevalence of cocaine use in the world. Australia and New Zealand also recorded the highest rates of ecstasy use worldwide.

Butler also responded to US President Donald Trump’s claims that Tylenol (paracetamol) causes autism in fetuses, saying that scientific authorities he consulted confirmed: “Provided you take Panadol (Australian paracetamol) in accordance with the instructions, there is no reason to think there is any causal link with autism.”