Illegal cigarettes 'huge threat' to retailers

Part of the consignment of 4.3m cigarettes seized at Rosslare Europort on Saturday. Picture: Revenue

A routine check of a lorry in Rosslare that discovered 4.3m illegal cigarettes is evidence that last year's record-breaking year for tobacco smuggling is far from an outlier, retailers have claimed.

Revenue officers who checked the Dutch-registered lorry at Rosslare on Saturday, after it came on a ferry from France, found the €3.2m haul of ‘Marine Blue’ and ‘Marine Green’ cigarettes, with a potential loss to the exchequer of more than €2.5m in taxes.

While the mammoth haul is a high for this year, it dwarfs in comparison to some of the discoveries of smuggled cigarettes in 2021, leading retailers to claim the burgeoning market is a “huge threat” to legitimate store owners.

In October last year, some 9.2m cigarettes were discovered at Dublin Port, and more than 3m at Rosslare Europort. In August, some 7.2m cigarettes were seized at Dublin Port.

In July, two massive hauls on the same day netted almost 16 million smuggled cigarettes, according to Revenue.

On July 15, Revenue officers at Dublin Port seized 10.5m cigarettes with an estimated retail value of €7.35m, representing a potential loss to the exchequer of €5.75m.

The illegal cigarettes, branded ‘Blue River', were discovered when Revenue officers searched a container from Vietnam that had arrived in Ireland on a vessel from Rotterdam.

Another haul at Dublin Port on the same day saw 5.8 tonnes of ‘roll-your-own’ tobacco and 5.3m cigarettes. The consignment, which originated in Bulgaria, had an estimated retail value of €7.3m, and a potential loss to the exchequer of about €5.8m, Revenue said.

In February last year, another 3m cigarettes were seized at Rosslare.

Revenue does not highlight every haul, meaning the massive numbers of seized cigarettes will be bolstered by a number of smaller finds throughout the year.

Retailers Against Smuggling (RAS), which represents about 3,000 small and medium-sized shops around the country, said the cigarette black market is not only causing a loss to the exchequer, but also severely denting the retail industry.

“This latest seizure points to the continuation of a rapidly growing black market which Irish retailers are forced to compete with, as sophisticated criminal gangs take advantage of the tidy profits that can now be made from illicit tobacco,” it said.

“RAS commends the ongoing work by Revenue officials in the fight against smuggling, particularly at our major points of entry through ports and airports. However, the issue of tobacco smuggling remains a huge threat for registered and legitimate tobacco retailers, whose legal cigarette trade can account for 20% to 30% of their business,” the group added.