Investigators are scouring Brisbane hospitals, believing the attacker was seriously burned as he fled in a white van.
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“We found a burnt portion of a shoe down the road,” Healy said.
“Given the state of the shoe, it’s possible the burns could be significant.”
As of 10.30am, about a dozen police remained on the scene. Three wore masks and took photos inside the building.
Nearby businesses are not believed to have been seriously damaged by the fire.
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It comes after Brisbane Times revealed many convenience stores in the CBD and surrounding suburbs were selling illegally imported cigarettes under the counter – or sometimes in plain sight.
“They’re illegal … I don’t know where we get them, I’m not the manager,” one seller told this masthead.
Almost all stores sold Manchester cigarettes, and many also stocked Chinese brand “Double Happiness”, Korean brand “ESSE”, imported “Marlboro Reds” and “Winfield Blues” among others.
Prices ranged from $17 to $25 a pack – about 50 per cent cheaper than most legitimately taxed plain-packaging equivalents.
More than 5.2 million cigarettes and 1.2 tonnes of loose tobacco were seized from Queensland retailers in a 12-week blitz from July.
Organised crime is believed to control about 75 per cent of the market.
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