Swoop on cigarette smugglers sees 15 arrested

OVER 100 gardaí as well as officials from Revenue and the Criminal Assets Bureau were yesterday involved in a major early morning operation which led to 15 arrests and the discovery of 100,000 contraband cigarettes.

The search and arrest swoop took place at 27 locations in Leinster and east Munster and the 13 men and two women detained were, last night, being held under anti-gang legislation introduced by the last government. One of the searches resulted in the detection of a consignment of 100,000 smuggled cigarettes at a premises in Carlow town.

The discovery was welcomed by a group representing retailers who claimed the country was “awash with illegal cigarettes”.