Customs seize cigarettes worth €4m at Dublin Port

Customs officers from the Revenue Commissioners have seized €4 million worth of illegally imported cigarettes at Dublin Port.

Some eight million cigarettes in total were seized when a Latvian-registered truck and trailer disembarked from a ship in Dublin Port.

The ship had been traced from Rotterdam.

Elaborate concealment

Detection dog Casey uncovered the elaborate concealment of cigarettes, hidden within the glazing spaces of window frames.

The Minsk Capital, NZ Gold and Pect brand cigarettes are believed to have originated in Belarus.

The seizures are part of Revenue’s ongoing operations targeting the supply and sale of illegal cigarettes, tobacco and alcohol in the shadow economy.

The cigarettes seized at Dublin Port represent a potential loss to the exchequer of €3.6 million, if assuming they would have displaced the equivalent fully tax-compliant quantity of cigarettes.