60 pubs and clubs caught selling counterfeit spirits

SOME 60 pubs and clubs have been detected selling counterfeit spirits, according to Customs.

Ursula O’Neill of Customs Investigations said the distribution and sale of counterfeit spirits had been an ongoing problem for the past five years.

“Regular checks on selected pubs, off-licences and clubs are a feature of Customs enforcement action ever since an illicit distillation plant was detected in 2001 followed by the detection of three separate bottling plants,” Ms O’Neill revealed.

She said two further plants were detected in December 2004 and February 2005 that had the capacity respectively to produce between 150 and 200 cases of spirits per week.

“These plants could have cost the Exchequer between €1.5 million and €2m annually in lost tax, had the plants remained undetected and the spirits in question been diverted onto the domestic market.”

She said in the past four years, 60 pubs and clubs had been detected selling counterfeit spirits.

“In all cases the packaging and labelling of the counterfeit product is of a high quality,” she said.