High prices lead to hike in cigarette smuggling
Dave Godwin, head of the Customs Criminal Investigations in Dublin, said that with the price of a cigarette packet now about €8.45 and the tax and duties accounting for €6.63 of that, the market was lucrative for smugglers.
“We are even seeing counterfeit John Player Blue, a brand almost uniquely confined to Dublin. They are going to the trouble of replicating in good quality the packaging and the Irish tax stamp,” said Mr Godwin.