Massive €4m haul is latest blow for tobacco smugglers
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Customs officers have claimed to have dealt another major blow to the cigarette black-market
Thursday November 12 2009
Customs officers yesterday claimed to have dealt another major blow to black-market crime gangs after seizing a second multi-million cigarette haul in just over two weeks.
A massive eight tonnes of tobacco leaf, ready to be rolled into 12 million cigarettes, was discovered coming through Dublin Port on Monday.
Rather than impound the container, customs officers tailed a 40ft lorry carrying the €4m contraband cargo to a warehouse in Monaghan.
No arrests were made but customs officers said investigations into the criminals behind the smuggling operation are taking place in Ireland and internationally.
Officers suspect the haul was to be shipped on to an unlicensed cigarette making plant along the border.
The tobacco was still in half processed clumps in dozens of boxes, and ready to be sold. "We've been in touch with the tobacco industry who said that there is not a big process required to bring it to cigarette quality," a Revenue Customs spokesman said.
Sources suggested the find was significant as it proved gangs were prepared to smuggle raw materials for black market cigarettes as well as the finished product. The consignment arrived into Dublin Port on a ferry from Holyhead, north Wales marked as paper.
Officers became suspicious after running the container through an x-ray scanner which showed inconsistencies in the way the boxes had been packed.
The storage warehouse in Monaghan was raided yesterday with customs officers also discovering filters and enough packaging material, including branded boxes such as Superkings, to make and process 12 million cigarettes.
It is believed the haul was shipped from mainland Europe and comes two weeks after a record-breaking find was uncovered in Greenore, Co Louth.
Nine men were arrested after more than 120 million cigarettes, valued at €50m, were stuffed in animal feed bags in a vessel.
William Hanley, spokesman for Retailers Against Smuggling, called for authorities to ensure prosecutions follow massive seizures.
"Even after such a massive seizure, criminals still view Ireland as being a soft touch when it comes to this issue," he said.
