Children used as ‘runners’ in illegal cigarette trade

CRIME gangs making €3 million a week from selling smuggled cigarettes are using children as young as 12 as “runners” to hold their cash.

Gangs are increasingly using children to carry guns and money because under the law they are unlikely to be brought before the courts if arrested.

The tobacco industry estimates that €700m will be lost to the Exchequer this year alone, such is the size of the black market.

It says the legislation has to change because, even when an adult is caught, the penalties are “paltry compared to the vast profits they can make”.

One of the busiest spots for this illegal activity is the market in Drogheda. On any Saturday morning, up to a dozen children can be found working as “runners” for gangs.

They are selling a pack of 20 for €4, which retails at €8.50 a pack.

“On one particular Saturday morning in Drogheda, there were three siblings arrested for selling cigarettes and they ranged in age from 12 to 15,” said one garda.

They were given €50 for the morning’s work by their “boss”, he said.

“He has them selling 200 cigarettes for €40 and one sale like that will cover his ‘staff’ costs for the day. He might tell them that if they sell an extra 1,000 cigarettes he will give them an extra fiver,” the garda said.

“This is pure criminality and he knows that the penalties for the kids are simply a caution under the Juvenile Liaison scheme.”

At the markets the children can be seen collecting the cash and then directing the customer to another part of the market where they go to collect the cigarettes.

A lot of evidence has been gathered by the Tobacco Manufacturers Advisory Committee (ITMAC), which wants reform of the legislation to deter this activity.

“A person fined under the Casual Trading Act will only be fined a maximum of €63 for a first offence and up to €1,270 for a third offence. These fines are paltry compared to the vast profits that can be made.

“We know that the gangs sometimes use children as sellers to avoid prosecution. The Casual Trading Act must be amended to prohibit the selling of cigarettes on the street full-stop and the deterrent should be adequate to the crime. It should also be an offence to use children to sell tobacco on the streets,” a committee spokesman said.

Revenue Commissioners have confirmed that 43 checks were made at 18 of the country’s main markets as part of the ‘Tobacco Blitz’ campaign last month.

These raids resulted in 12 seizures in which more than 37,000 cigarettes were taken.