DUBLIN: The ‘Winston’ branded cigarettes were seized during last week at Dublin Airport. The seized cigarettes were estimated to have a total retail value of around €16,600. Officers found the cigarettes in the luggage of two Moldovan men who had arrived separately to Dublin Airport on flights from Moldova, via the Turkish city of Istanbul.
The successful seizures came in something of a bonanza week for customs officers who also seized a staggering €3.5 million worth of ‘Manchester’ branded cigarettes at Dublin Port.
The ‘Manchester’ brand cigarettes, with a retail value of more than €3.5m, were discovered when officers, assisted by Revenue sniffer dog Casey, searched a 45-foot container which had arrived from Belgium.
The cigarettes were hidden beneath a layer of black plastic and were described on the manifest as ‘breakfast cereals’.
The haul of almost 7.7 million illegal cigarettes was a huge seizure for customs officers who are engaged in an ongoing battle against the black market trade in cigarettes at our sea ports and airports.
