Cigarette Seizure in Dundalk
Officers from Revenue's Customs service today (23/02/2010) carried out a number of searches in Co. Louth for cigarettes illegally imported into the State.
At a business premises in Dundalk this morning, they found cigarettes concealed in bulk packs of timber. At present officers are examining 159 packs of timber to determine what quantities are concealed. The cigarettes are concealed in a cavity in the pack around which the timber is built.
They have established that each timber pack examined contains 179,000 cigarettes, but still have to determine if cigarettes are concealed in all of the packs.
The potential quantity of cigarettes involved is approximately 28 million with an estimated retail value of €11.8m and potential loss to the exchequer of €9.4m.
[Ends 23/02/2010]
Note: quantities and monetary amounts are estimates based on each timber pack containing 179,000 cigarettes.