17 Million Cigarette seizure by Revenue
Officers from Revenue's Customs Service have seized a total of approximately 17 million contraband cigarettes valued in excess of €6m, with a risk to Revenue of €5.3m in two separate recent operations over the last fortnight.
In one operation, codenamed Operation Eagle, officers seized a total of 8.54m contraband cigarettes in five (5) Lo/Lo containers which had arrived from Vietnam. The cigarettes were concealed behind coverloads of furniture. Three of the containers, which had been imported via Dublin Port, were removed from a premises at Dundalk, Co. Louth, following a lengthy surveillance operation by Officers.
Several persons at the premises have been interviewed and investigations are continuing both nationally and internationally. As part of the same investigation, the other two containers were subsequently seized at Dublin Port.
In a separate operation, Officers seized 8.34m cigarettes from a container which arrived at Dublin port from China, concealed behind a coverload of tyres.
So far this year, Revenue's Customs Officers have seized approx 112m cigarettes with a retail value of approx €40m. This compares with a total of 74.5m cigarettes for the total of 2007.
[Ends: 06/11/2008]