More than 10 million illicit cigarettes found in shipment from Vietnam

Revenue officers at Dublin Port have discovered 10.5 million illegal cigarettes in a container shipped from Vietnam.

The “Blue River” cigarettes have an estimated retail value of €7.35 million which would have led to a €5.75 million loss to the exchequer.

Detective dog Waffle helped sniff out the illicit items that arrived in Ireland on a vessel from Rotterdam. The load, which was presented as furniture, was found as a result of routine profiling, according to a Revenue spokeswoman.

Shadow economy

Investigations are ongoing.

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Last week, Revenue officers seized more than €11.2 million worth of tobacco and cigarettes in three separate hauls at Dublin Port.

The seizures are part of Revenue’s ongoing operations targeting the shadow economy and the sale and supply of illegal tobacco. The importation of illicit tobacco products is an excise offence.

Businesses or members of the public with information about smuggling should alert the Revenue office, the spokeswoman said.