From: Retailers Against Smuggling (Ireland)
Gangs are Making Huge Profits, Say Retailers Against Smuggling
Cigarette smuggling is now the most lucrative form of organized crime in Ireland, according to Retailers Against Smuggling, the representative group for Ireland’s tobacco retailers.
The organization’s spokesman, Benny Gilsenan, made the claim after Revenue’s Customs officials seized over eight million cigarettes at Dublin Port yesterday. The illegal cigarettes had a retail value of €3.1 million and a loss to the Exchequer of €2.5 million.
While praising Revenue for their vigilance, Mr Gilsenan said that the size of the seizure reinforced the scale of the cigarette smuggling problem in Ireland. “The size and value of the latest haul shows that cigarette smuggling is the most lucrative criminal activity for organized crime gangs. There are huge profits to be made from cigarette smuggling and the reality is that if even if a smuggler gets caught, the fines they receive are minor. A criminal who makes millions of euro in profits isn’t going to think twice about getting a thousand euro fine.
Mr Gilsenan added: “We are particularly concerned that former drug dealers and dissident republicans are heavily involved in cigarette smuggling. The fact that a commercial vehicle from the North was seized as part of Customs’ operation suggests that there is a strong link to paramilitary groups.”
Mr Gilsenan also called on the public to be vigilant and not to buy illegal cigarettes on street corners or at markets as this supported organized crime.
Retailers Against Smuggling also reiterated its call for the provision of an extra scanner at Irish ports. The funds for this scanner are available at no cost to the Irish State through an EU programme, the organisation said.
