Revenue have seized tobacco, cigarettes and herbal cannabis worth almost €5 million at Dublin Port and Athlone.
Officers, along with the help of detector dog Milo, discovered the illegal drugs and tobacco during the course of three routine checks over the past week.
In Dublin Port last Friday, on February 15, Revenue officers found approximately 6,000kgs of smuggled tobacco and 2,400 cigarettes with an estimated retail value of over €4.5 million representing a potential loss to the Exchequer of almost €3.5 million.
The contraband was discovered in a consignment that was marked as ‘PVC Resin Floor Sealer’ arriving from Belgium.
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On Monday, Revenue officers with the assistance of Revenue’s mobile x-ray scanner and detector dog Milo, discovered 12.3kgs of ‘roll your own tobacco’ in a consignment that appeared as ‘food’ in Dublin Port.
The smuggled tobacco was branded ‘Golden Virginia’ and ‘Sopianie’ and has an estimated retail value of over €9,300, representing a potential loss to the Exchequer in excess of €7,000.
And in Athlone on Tuesday, Revenue officers seized over 17.9kgs of herbal cannabis worth almost €359,000 at a premise. The illegal drugs were discovered in two parcels which had originated in Spain and Italy and were going for addresses in Dublin and Louth.
A Revenue spokesperson said: “Investigations into all seizures are ongoing.
"These seizures are part of Revenue’s ongoing operations targeting the shadow economy and the supply of illegal tobacco products and drugs. If businesses or members of the public have any information regarding smuggling, they can contact Revenue in confidence on the free phone number 1800 295 295."
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