LONDON: The haul, potentially representing €2 million plus in lost revenue to the State, came into the Europort elaborately concealed on the back of an articulated lorry in September of 2014.
No one has ever been prosecuted for the smuggling but the Revenue Commissioners came to court on April 19 seeking forfeiture of the tractor and trailer unit owned by a company with a Polish address. It was estimated that the tractor unit of the lorry was worth €9,750 while the trailer was valued at €4,750, a total of €14,500, far shy of the value of what was on board.
The name of the company was given as Vinava, with an address at Widugiery 40, 16/515 Punsk, Poland. The firm had a man called Gusarvus in court ready to give evidence, along with a colleague to help with translation. Vinava was also represented by barrister Bébhinn Murphy who produced documents in Russian, Latvian and Polish. The judge heard first from Customs officer Philip Leacy who reported that an ‘anomaly’ was discovered in the load on the lorry when it landed in Rosslare.
He and his colleagues had X-ray equipment which alerted them to the anomaly in a cargo of what he described as thermal storage units – large tanks, eight or nine feet high. When officials attempted to run a camera up the pipes of these six units they found the pipes were blocked off dead ends. Officer Harte described the units as very well sealed and they appeared to brand new. Access was only achieved after specialist equipment was called up to allow Customs tilt the units over so that they could open trap-doors on the underside.
