DUBLIN: Customs officers seized more than 124,500 cigarettes and 12.9kg (28lb) of tobacco in one county during 2016. The Revenue service said its investigators launched a series of operations to disrupt the black market in the Louth area alone.
At least a dozen brands were discovered in various seizures including Excellence, Marlboro, MG, Jing Ling, Jim King, L&M, NZ Gold, Marble, Regal and Winston, as well as Amberleaf, Flandria and Samson loose leaf tobacco. Customs officers also seized 7,470 euro (£6,360) in cash and a car.
Revenue said the contraband cigarettes and tobacco would have been worth more than 74,000 euro (£63,000) if sold in the shops and represented a potential loss of almost 60,000 euro (£51,000) to the Exchequer. It said several people had been questioned and files were being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.
