MORE THAN four million cigarettes were recovered and a man arrested following a seizure at Dublin Port on Tuesday.
The contraband cigarettes, with an estimated retail value of €2 million and a potential loss to the exchequer of €1.8 million, were labelled “Raquel” and “Gold Classic”. The shipment, which originated in China before arriving at the port via the Netherlands, were labelled pharmaceuticals on the ship’s manifest.
A man in his 30s, from Northern Ireland was arrested, charged and remanded in custody. A truck was also seized during the operation.
Retail Ireland welcomed the seizure of the counterfeit cigarettes, adding that the sale of black market goods added to the already serious difficulties faced by the retail sector. However, director Torlach Denihan said the size of the seizure demonstrated the scale of the problem facing retailers.
“The increasing frequency of seizures demonstrates the worrying level of black market activity. The retail sector in Ireland has shed 50,000 jobs since the start of the recession in 2008,” he said.