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File photo Sasko Lazarov/Photocall Ireland
Black Market
Cigarettes, tobacco and counterfeit vodka seized in €1.5 million sting operation
Gardaí and Revenue seized more than three million cigarettes in two separate raids.
CIGARETTES, TOBACCO AND counterfeit vodka worth more than €1.5 million have been seized by officials in two separate sting operations.
In the first instance, two million Benson and Hedges cigarettes were seized by Revenue officials and Gardaí at a commercial premises in Athenry in Galway on Wednesday.
The cigarettes had originally come from Belgium and had entered Ireland through Dublin Port. Revenue said that the cigarettes had a retail value of almost €1 million.
In a separate operation, officials seized 1.2 million cigarettes, 400 kgs of tobacco and a small quantity of counterfeit vodka from a private premises in Faughart in Dundalk on Saturday. The seized goods had a total retail value of €730,000, with the cigarettes accounting for €550,000 of that.
No-one has been arrested in connection with the seizures and investigations are continuing.
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