Smuggling crackdown nets 200,000 contraband cigarettes

Almost 200,000 cigarettes have been seized during the latest in a wave of anti-smuggling operations, officials said today.

Customs officers recovered 60,000 contraband cigarettes after stopping a vehicle in Fermoy, Co Cork yesterday while another 22,000 were found during follow-up searches in the north side of Cork city.

In a separate operation, around 110,000 cigarettes were seized after a surveillance operation targeting flights from eastern Europe into Cork.

A Customs official said: “A number of people have been questioned and files are being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecution in all cases.”

The cigarette brands were a mixture of Marlboro, Marlboro lights and L&M.

Last week at Cork District Court, a man was sentenced to one month in prison for the attempted evasion of payment of excise duty on 17,560 cigarettes.

The man had arrived at Cork Airport on a flight from Amsterdam on January 30, having travelled from the Ukraine, according to Customs officers.

Some 500,000 cigarettes have been seized in Cork so far this year.