Revenue officers seized 594,000 cigarettes at Dublin Port on Wednesday.
The cigarettes, branded Minsk, and bearing a Russian stamp, were discovered with the assistance of Revenue’s detector dog Waffle.
They were discovered in a container that had arrived from Belgium. They have an estimated retail value of €445,500, representing a potential loss to the exchequer of €350,100.
In a separate operation at Dublin Port last week, Revenue officers seized 180,000 cigarettes with an estimated retail value of €135,000, representing a potential loss to the exchequer of €106,000.
The illegal cigarettes branded Minsk and NZ Gold were discovered with the assistance of Revenue’s detector dog Kelly in a container that had arrived from Lithuania.
Investigations into both seizures are ongoing.
These seizures are part of Revenue’s ongoing operations targeting 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 1800-295295.
