Breathtaking CCTV has emerged of a pair of robbers going to extreme measures to steal cigarettes from a convenience store, amid what the retail industry has labelled a “crime crisis”.

The video shows the hooded bandits arriving at glass doors of an IGA in Mount Martha, in Melbourne’s south-east, armed with several tools and weapons.

With just a few swift swings of a mallet, one of the thieves smashes through the entrance, while his partner in crime begins to rev up the metal cutter.

The quick-moving robbers used a mallet to smash their way into the Mount Martha IGA, before getting to work. (Supplied) (9news)

The duo then get to work, with one jumping over the store counter and using the high-powered tool to open the cigarette case; the other robber grabs a large trolley in preparation for the looting.

One after another, boxes of cigarettes are precisely thrown into the trolley, with nearly the entire vehicle filled in less than a minute and carted away.

Not content with just the load of tobacco, the thief in the light coloured jumper then clears out the cash drawer, before making a swift exit.

The shocking vision comes as convenience stores across the nation battle what they’ve described as an amid an organised tobacco “crime crisis”.

A metal cutter is used to open the cigarette cupboard. (Supplied) (9news)

The bandit makes a quick getaway with the trolley full of cigarettes. (Supplied) (9news)

“Staff are terrified, and rightly so…robberies are violent, and often involve attendants being threatened with guns and knives,” CEO of the Australasian Association of Convenience Stores (AACS) said in an official statement.

Mr Rogut said retailers have had no choice but to install high-tech devices, including SmokeCloak- which ejects a thick blanket of fog during a theft- to try and stop thieves in their tracks.

“It shouldn’t be up to retailers to lead this fight – we need the Federal Government to take drastic action to combat this destructive trade.”

Retailers have been forced to install high-tech devices to stop robbers in their tracks. (Smokecloak) (9news)

The Smokecloak in action at a liquor store. (Smokecloak) (9news)

He added that the first step in tackling the issue will be to “host summit in Canberra to discuss the illegal trade with Government, regulators and the stakeholders who have been devastated by the black market.”

Russell Zimmerman, Executive Director of the Australian Retailers Association (ARA), added that the government “must intervene” to stop the flourishing black market.

“If we do not tackle the black market head on, this crime will not only significantly impact retailers, it will substantially impact retail workers and will further undermine the work the government has already completed to reduce smoking rates.”