Customs disrupt illegal tobacco network with €600k seizure
Customs and revenue officials spent yesterday examining the haul, which was recovered during a joint Garda and Customs operation across the city and county on Wednesday.
The “intelligence-led” Operation Cuban uncovered a total of 865,000 illegal cigarettes and 525 kilogrammes of rolling tobacco, it was confirmed last night.
Initially valued at €500,000, the overall value of the haul has now been revised upwards to €600,000.
The tobacco products were found in a truck and a residential garage at an address in Carrignavar, and in follow-up searches of addresses in east Cork, and on the north side of the city.
The vast bulk of the haul – estimated at two-thirds – was Raquel brand cigarettes, which are made in Cyprus.
There were about 200,000 fake John Player Blue cigarettes, while the rest of the haul was made up of Superkings, Benson & Hedges and Samson.
“This was the successful culmination of several months’ work. Revenue and Customs had been working on this operation for some time,” a spokesman said.
“It is the biggest tobacco seizure in the city or county in two years. It is a milestone in our ongoing targeting of this illegal trade.”
A man in his mid-40s, who was arrested as part of the operation, was still in Garda custody last night.
The seizure was the latest success in a concerted crackdown on tobacco smuggling.
Customs officers seized €95.8 million worth of smuggled tobacco last year, up almost 70% on 2008.
The bulk of the huge rise was down to Europe’s largest-ever seizure of cigarettes in October – more than 120 million valued at €50m – from a vessel docked at Greenore Port in Co Louth.
The Irish Tobacco Manufacturers’ Advisory Committee (ITMAC) congratulated Customs officers involved in Operation Cuban.
“Non Irish Duty Paid cigarettes (NIDP) cost this country €526m last year,” a spokesperson said.
“This is an unacceptable loss of government revenue during recessionary times.
“The expected loss to the Exchequer for 2010 is set to reach €616m – Ireland can’t afford to ignore NIDP any longer.
“The level of illegal trade in cigarettes in Ireland is alarming.
“It is a well known fact that tobacco smuggling revolves around organised criminal gangs, operating on an international scale.
“This illegal trade is resulting in job losses within the legitimate retail sector and bringing crime to communities all over the country.”
