WASHINGTON: Revenue officers in Dublin Port seized almost 250,000 cigarettes yesterday, it has emerged. The smuggled cigarettes, branded Marlboro Gold, Marlboro Red and Winston Blue were concealed in a heavy goods vehicle that arrived in Dublin Port from Rotterdam.
As the Polish-registered tractor unit disembarked, hauling heavy farm machinery on a low-loader, customs detector dog “Casey” indicated interest. Officers scanned and searched the vehicle, uncovering the cigarettes concealed in the trailer’s chassis rail. The driver, a Polish man in his 30s, was questioned and Revenue seized the truck and the trailer. Investigations are ongoing.
In a separate intervention at Dublin Airport on Sunday, 9,300 Kent branded cigarettes were discovered in the baggage of a 23-year-old Moldovan man who had arrived in Dublin from Frankfurt. The man was arrested and appeared before Judge Cormac Dunne in the Criminal Courts of Justice on Monday morning charged with the illegal importation of cigarettes. He was remanded in custody to appear in court again on Friday. The total value of the seized cigarettes is approximately €135,000 representing a potential loss to the Exchequer of €116,250.
