38 million cigarettes seized in Dublin Port

Revenue officials say the illegal cigarettes had a retail value of €14.7 million.

REVENUE OFFICERS HAVE seized 38 million cigarettes with a retail value of almost €15 million at Dublin Port.

The cigarettes were found in four forty-foot maritime containers. They were discovered when the containers were selected for x-ray scanning based on risk profiling conducted by Customs.

The Golden Eagle brand cigarettes had originated in Vietnam and arrived into Dublin Port via Rotterdam. They were described as wood briquettes on the manifest and were consigned to an Irish-based company.

Revenue Commissioner Liam Irwin said that seizure was a significant blow to the criminals involved in the cigarette smuggling trade.

The cigarettes have a retail value of €14.7 million with a potential loss to the Exchequer of €13.1 million.

Several individuals were interviewed in connection with the seizure and investigations are ongoing.

Cigarette smuggling: Dublin tops table for convictions >

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