28 September 2018
By Elaine Murphy
elaine@TheCork.ie
Today (28/09/18), as a result of routine operations, Revenue Officers seized 216,000 cigarettes at Dublin Port. The cigarettes were branded ‘Marlboro’, with a retail value of over €112,000, representing a loss to the Exchequer of approximately €97,000. The cigarettes were discovered when officers conducted an examination of freight which had arrived from Singapore. Investigations are ongoing.
Also today (28/09/18) in Ennis District Court, Revenue officers were granted a three month cash detention order by Judge Patrick Durcan. This follows the seizure yesterday (27/09/2018) of $15,000 US dollars in cash by Revenue Officers when, as a result of routine profiling, a woman was stopped and searched after she arrived in Shannon Airport. The cash was found in the luggage of a UK national in her 30s, who had travelled from São Paulo in Brazil. The woman was questioned and investigations are ongoing.
Separately on Wednesday morning (26/09/2018), Revenue Officers seized €3,750 in cash when they stopped and searched a man in his 50s in Ringaskiddy Port, following routine profiling. The Polish man was due to travel to Roscoff in France. The cash was found hidden in a holdall with the assistance of Revenue Detector Dog Marley. Revenue Officers seized the cash suspecting it to be the proceeds of, or intended for use in, criminal activity. Yesterday (27/09/2018) at Cork District Court, Judge Olan Kelleher granted a three month detention order to allow Revenue to investigate further.
These routine operations are part of Revenue’s ongoing work targeting the shadow economy and the supply and sale of illegal tobacco products. If businesses or members of the public have any information, they can contact Revenue in confidence on Confidential Phone Number 1800 295 295.
