DUBLIN: Over seven million cigarettes with a retail value of over €3.5m were seized by Revenue’s Customs Service in Dublin Port.
The ‘Manchester’ brand cigarettes were discovered when officers, asssted by Revenue sniffer dog Casey, conducted an examination of a 45-foot container.
The cigarettes were concealed beneath a layer of black plastic and were described on the container’s manifest as “breakfast cereals”. The shipment has arrived from Belgium.
Meanwhile, officers discovered 33,000 Winston brand cigarettes in the luggage of two Moldovan men at Dublin airport. The cigarettes had a total retail value of around €16,600.
The men had arrived separately on flights from Moldova via Istanbul.A spokesperson for Revenue’s Customs Service said these seizures are part of Revenue’s ongoing operations targeting the supply and sale of illegal cigarettes in the shadow economy.
If businesses or members of the public have any information regarding the smuggling or sale of illegal cigarettes or tobacco, they can contact Revenue in confidence on free phone number 1800 295 295.
The cigarettes seized represent a potential loss to the Exchequer of approximately €2.97m.
This is assuming that they would have displaced the equivalent full tax paid quantity of cigarettes, the spokesperson said.
