2.2 million cigarettes seized in Louth

Revenue has announced today that Revenue Officers seized contraband with an estimated value of €2,760,000 in various operations in Louth, Dublin, the Midlands, and Rosslare Europort, including 2.2 million cigarettes which were detected, as a result of an intelligence led operation in Louth.

The illicit cigarettes, branded ‘Lambert and Butler’ and ‘Richmond’, were detected when Revenue officers, assisted by detector dog Toby and An Garda Síochána, stopped and searched a commercial vehicle. A man in his 40s has been questioned and investigations are ongoing.

The detections were made as a result of risk profiling and intelligence led operations, and included the following:

• tobacco products with an estimated value of over €1.9 million, representing a potential loss to the Exchequer of over €1.5 million,
• 33kg of herbal cannabis, with an estimated value of €666,600. 
• 55kg of edibles with an estimated value of over €55,800,
• various other illicit drugs, with an estimated value of over €5,300, and
• 372 counterfeit items, with an estimated value of over €77,000.

The herbal cannabis was discovered, with the assistance of detector dogs Sam, Grace, Ciara and Enzo, whilst Revenue officers were examining parcels at premises in Dublin and the Midlands. The parcels originated from Thailand, United States, United Kingdom, Canada, India, Spain, Poland, Sweden and France, and were destined for various addresses nationwide.

The various illicit drugs consisted of cannabis resin, cannabis oil, reefers, 3 CMC, and Alprazalam, Diazepam, Zolpidem and Zopiclone tablets.

The counterfeit goods were seized as they were confirmed by the Rights Holder to have infringed on Intellectual Property Rights. The counterfeit good consisted of goods branded Disney, O’Neills, Adidas, Crocs, Coach, Louis Vuitton, Longchamp, Yves Saint Laurent, Moncler, Arcteryx, North Face, Phillies NBA, Apple, Armani, Chanel, Birkenstock, Hermes, Chloe, New Balance, Dr Martens, Nike, Christian Louboutin, Asics, Dior, Alexander McQueen, Dsquared, Ugg, Golden Goose, Tommy Hilfiger, ON Cloud, Prada, Stone Island, Stussy, Omega, Calvin Klein, Fear of God, Burberry, Miu Miu, Palm Angels, Hugo Boss, and White Fox. 

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In addition to the above, almost 600 litres of alcohol, with a retail value of over €6,400 and representing a potential loss to the Exchequer of over €3,500, and additional tobacco products, with an estimated value of over €8,000 and representing a potential loss to the exchequer of over €6,600, were seized in Dublin, the Midlands and Rosslare.

The seized alcohol consisted of spirits, wine, beer, cider, and unidentifiable unlabelled alcohol. The additional cigarette and tobacco products seized included items branded Camel, Nanjing, Hongtashan, Eight, Yuxi,Winston, Marlboro, Septwolves, and Kent.

A car and trailer, with an estimated value of €41,000, were also seized, along with six weapons. The weapons seized included pepper spray, telescopic baton, lock knife, katana sword and a butterfly knife.

Revenue says that investigations into all seizures are ongoing, and that these seizures are part of Revenue’s ongoing operations targeting smuggling and shadow economy activity. If businesses, or members of the public, have any information regarding smuggling, they can contact Revenue in confidence on 1800 295 295.