Revenue officers seized over 89,000 cigarettes from a premises in Dublin 7 yesterday.
As part of an intelligence led operation, the officers carried out a search under warrant. They also seized 39.4kgs of ‘roll your own’ tobacco and €4,600 in cash during the massive sting.
They were helped by An Garda Síochána and trusty detector dog Bill.
The seized cigarettes and tobacco had an estimated retail value of more than €94,000 and represented potential loss to the Exchequer of approximately €74,000. They included boxes of ‘Richmond’, Excellence’, Lambert & Butler’, ‘JPS Red’, ‘Mayfair’ and ‘Flandria Virginia’.
Two men, in their 50s and 70s and two women, in their 30s and 50s, were questioned after the sting.
Yesterday, as part of a separate operation- Revenue seized 8,100 cigarettes and a small quantity of ‘roll your own’ tobacco from a premises in Mayo.
€2,320 in cash was also seized was also seized with the help of detector dog Wilson. The illegal cigarettes had an estimated retail value of €6,100 and represented a potential loss to the Exchequer of approximately €4,800.
A man in his 50s was questioned with Revenue officers being granted 3-month cash detention orders in respect of the cash seized in both cases.
A Revenue spokeswoman said: "These seizures are part of Revenue’s ongoing operations targeting the shadow economy and the supply of illegal tobacco products. If businesses or members of the public have any information regarding smuggling, they can contact Revenue in confidence on the confidential free phone number 1800 295 295."
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