Four offenders smashed way into Launceston bottle shops, newsagency: police

A blue BMW X5, which was stolen from near the Beauty Point marina a day prior and used in the burglaries, has been found burnt out on Lilydale Road at Underwood.

Police are continuing to assess CCTV footage from the affected businesses and other nearby premises, and are also "following up some leads that have come in this morning", Detective Acting Inspector Nick Clark said.

The four men - concealed with face coverings and wearing gloves - first broke into the Liqour Stax bottle shop just after midnight, then used the BMW to drive to the 9/11 bottle shop at the Newstead Hotel.

Detective Acting Inspector Clark said it appears the offenders stole "several thousand dollars" worth of alcohol from the two premises, before stealing fuel from Shell on Hoblers Bridge Road.

They then forced entry at the Kings Meadows Newsagency at 1.30am and used an array of objects to open the cigarette case, stealing a quantity of cigarettes.

"On each occasion, they used implements to either smash open or force open security doors and smash through windows to gain entry to all of the businesses," Detective Acting Inspector Clark said.

"It appears this stage it's mainly been top shelf liquor that's been stolen.

"It's quite clear that the offenders were targeting alcohol and cigarettes. In relation to whether these premises were specifically chosen, we're not sure, that'll be part of our investigation."

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No staff were on the premises at the time of the burglaries.

Police expect to release CCTV footage to the public later on Tuesday to aid in their investigation.

Detective Acting Inspector Clark said it was disappointing to see local businesses targeted.

"Any business that suffers a burglary and a stealing, not only is it the damage, it's the effect it has on the owners, it's the effect it has on the staff, it's the effect it has on the general community," he said.

"That's why we need to take on these business burglaries as a community response - not only the police, but the public out there to assist us to try to locate these people, to stop them from committing further burglaries on other business premises."

Anyone with dash cam footage or CCTV can contact Launceston Police on 6777 3945 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.