Revenue seizures in Cavan, Louth and Dublin

Yesterday, (14/04/2021), as a result of an intelligence led operation and with the assistance of detector dog Bill, Revenue officers seized 25,000 cigarettes following  a search, under warrant, of a premises in Shercock, Co. Cavan. The unstamped cigarettes, branded ‘Minsk’ had been smuggled into the State from Russia. A Hungarian man in his twenties was questioned.

Separately, in Dundalk, Co. Louth, Revenue officers, searched a premises, under warrant, and seized over 6,000 cigarettes. A Latvian man in his thirties was questioned.

The cigarettes seized from both of these operations have a combined estimated retail value of more than €22,000, representing a potential loss to the Exchequer of over €17,400.

Also, yesterday, (14/04/2021), as a result of routine profiling, Revenue officers seized 11,000 cigarettes at Dublin Airport, following a search of the checked baggage of a man that had disembarked a flight from Wroclaw, Poland. The smuggled cigarettes of various brands have an estimated retail value of €7,700, representing a potential loss to the Exchequer of €6,000.

Finally, on Tuesday (13/04/2021), as a result of routine operations and with the assistance of detector dog Bailey, Revenue officers seized illegal drugs with an estimated value of over €127,000 at Dublin Mail Centre. In total, over 5kgs of various types of drugs such as herbal cannabis, cannabis edibles, cannabis resin, methamphetamine, heroin and butane honey oil were seized as well as over 2,800 tablets such as Zopiclone, Benzodiazepine, Diazepam and Zolpidem.

The illegal drugs were discovered in parcels that originated in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Netherlands, Austria and Canada.

The parcels were declared as items such as ‘food stuffs’, ‘metal cars’, ‘dog equipment’, ‘baseball helmet’, ‘health care products’ and ‘supplements’ and were destined for various addresses throughout Ireland.

These seizures are part of Revenue’s ongoing operations targeting the supply of illegal tobacco products and the importation of illegal drugs. If businesses or members of the public have any information regarding smuggling they can contact Revenue in confidence on the confidential free phone number 1800 295 295.

[ENDS 15/04/2021]