Five million cigarettes hidden in 'thermal storage tanks' seized at Rosslare

Revenue’s Customs Service seized five million cigarettes with a retail value of almost €2.4m at Rosslare Europort, it emerged today.

The cigarettes, including ‘Minsk’ and ‘Winston’ brands were detected when officers stopped and scanned a ‘curtain sider’ truck as it arrived on a ferry from Cherbourg, France yesterday.

The cigarettes were concealed in six tanks, each approximately 5’ x 6’ x 7’ in size, which had been described on the ship manifest as "thermal storage tanks"

A Lithuanian national was interviewed by Revenue officials and investigations are ongoing.

Businesses or members of the public have any information regarding the smuggling or sale of illegal cigarettes or tobacco, have been asked to contact Revenue in confidence on free phone [phone].