THE ADVENT of cheap flights has prompted the importation of cheap cigarettes, a District Court judge has said yesterday.
Judge Mary Fahy made the comment following the conviction of a Hungarian shopkeeper in Galway city for having over 5,000 contraband cigarettes for sale, quite literally “under the counter”.
Judge Fahy said jokingly that Ryanair had a lot to account for by offering cheap flights as people were using them to bring back a lot of cheap cigarettes.
“We have anecdotal evidence of people flying out on cheap flights . . . and bringing back a lot of cheap cigarettes. It was very common when I worked in Dublin, and it was a big racket there for years, so I cannot blame Ryanair totally.”
Edit Emese Kalmanne Dekany, Clybaun Road, Galway, pleaded guilty to having 5,200 Marlboro Red and Benson and Hedges cigarettes, other than in packs, for sale at her shop, Piros Arany, Seán Mulvoy Place, Galway, on July 3rd last year.
Judge Fahy fined Ms Dekany €5,000, mitigated to €2,500, and gave her four months to pay.