08/11/2011

Customs Seize Cigarettes Worth €66,700

Officers from Revenue's Customs Service seized 156,780 cigarettes and €11,500 in cash at the weekend when they stopped and searched a number of passengers arriving from Moldova via Frankfurt.

The cash and 24,400 cigarettes were seized on Saturday from one 30-year-old Moldovan national and the remainder of the cigarettes were seized when Officers searched eight other passengers.

The brands included 'Kent', 'L&M', 'Marlboro', 'Parliament', 'Winston' and 'West'. The cigarettes have a retail value of €66,700 and represent a potential loss to the Exchequer of €59,500.

The €11,500 cash was seized in accordance with Section 38, Criminal Justice Act 1994 as amended by Section 20, Proceeds of Crime (Amendment) Act 2005. Officers were granted a three-month detention order this morning, (07/11/2011), by Judge Bryan Smyth in the Dublin District Court, to carry out further investigations.

In a separate operation carried out on Friday, 200kgs of cigarette tobacco was seized, when Officers searched cargo that had arrived at Dublin Airport from China. A Chinese national was questioned but later released.

To-date in 2011 Revenue's Customs Service at Dublin Airport have seized 16.5 million cigarettes, 960kgs of tobacco and €308,000 under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

(GK)

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