Cigarette smuggling is now as lucrative as some forms of drug smuggling, to which it is closely linked. Yet the public is largely unaware of the seriousness of the link, an international conference hosted by the Irish Revenue Commissioners was told in Killarney yesterday.
"Illegal profits on a container load of cigarettes smuggled into Ireland is greater than on a load of cannabis," Revenue Commissioner Mr Frank Daly told the meeting
The conference was also told that Irish criminals are involved along with the Italian mafia and Russian gangs.
Senior police officers and customs officials from the US, Russia, Canada, and the EU representatives were among the 45 delegates at the conference involving a law enforcement subgroup under the umbrella of the G8 world summit organisation.
It is believed to be the first time a meeting of such a G8 group has been held in Ireland.
The delegates were told that in the past 18 months 124 million smuggled cigarettes were seized in Ireland where excise duty on tobacco accounts for 4 per cent of total tax receipts, including 9.5 million cigarettes on Monday last. The total retail value of these seizures is just under £25 million. The loss to the Exchequer on every 10 million smuggled cigarettes is close to £1.5 million; the savings on seizures by the Revenue since 1994 is more than £23 million.
But the consequences of cigarette smuggling are not confined to the loss to national exchequers, Mr Daly said. "There are also security and social implications resulting from the involvement in this trade of criminal gangs and subversive groups."
The 1993 single European market and abolition of customs controls leaves loopholes for smugglers. Many of those involved in cigarette smuggling are also involved in drugs.
Cigarettes have been found in containers packed among glassware, carpets, used car engines, women's clothing, and suitcases, said principal officer Mr Phonsey Croke. The Canaries as well as China are major sources of supply into Ireland, with couriers paid to go on holidays to bring back cigarettes, he said.