REVENUE OFFICERS AT Dublin Port seized almost 6.5 million cigarettes yesterday evening.
Worth an estimated €3.5 million, the cigarettes were found after Revenue again deployed its new mobile x-ray scanner.
The shipment had arrived into the port from Vietnam, via Rotterdam. Inside the container, which was said to contain “paper”, officers found cigarettes branded “Jin Ling”.
The cigarettes represented a potential loss to the Exchequer of €2.8 million, Revenue said.
At the same time, Revenue officers carried out searches at premises in Roscommon and Waterford. It said that investigations are ongoing.
In all, this seizure brings the total number of cigarettes seized in the last two weeks to almost 15 million.
Last week, TheJournal.ie got a closer look at the new scanner, and the sophisticated means that are used to scan for illegal items coming into the country.
One enforcement officer said: “It’s nearly impossible to get something passed us… but we’ve seem them try everything. Hiding drugs in tyres, in the pallets themselves, in fuel tanks or even the engine block. This scanner sees all those.
If you’re hiding something, we’ll find it.
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