Illegal cigarettes seized at an mid-Louth manufacturing plant had retail value of almost €560,000

Raw tobacco found during a raid on an illicit cigarette manufacturing plant in mid Louth, allegedly had the potential to make eight million cigarettes, Dundalk Circuit Court heard last week.

The details emerged at the sentencing hearing of 41-year-old Maksym Kozachuk of O’Duffy Park Terrace, Ballybay, County Monaghan - a Ukrainian national who came here from Berlin weeks before the search was carried out at Richardstown, Ardee on March 3rd last year.

Revenue officers and members of An Garda Siochana who executed a search warrant shortly before 11am discovered a production line, 660,000 cigarettes and eight tonnes of raw tobacco and filters and packaging.

The tobacco had the potential to manufacture eight million cigarettes, with a retail value of over €7.2 million which would have involved a loss to the exchequer of €5.7 million.

The cigarettes that were seized had a retail value of almost €560,000, and the total sum at risk in terms of VAT and excise duty was over €470,000.

The court heard the defendant, who was arrested along with four others, was living in squalor on the site and did not receive any payment, having come here on January 16th.

The job was arranged through a friend and he thought he would be able to return to his family in Berlin after working here for a week.

He never left the premises and food was brought to him. He was before the court having entered a signed guilty plea in the district court to the producing, possessing and the attempted production and possession of tobacco product.

The Defence barrister said his client, who acted as a handyman, had sought an opportunity to provide for his family who had fled the war in Ukraine.

Judge Dara Hayes noted the defendant had never received payment and had been working there for in or around eight weeks and it was accepted the accused was at a low level in the operation.

He imposed a 15 month sentence with the final six months suspended, backdated to January 11th last, to allow for time spent in custody.