2 days ago
Revenue seize contraband worth including drugs and weapons worth around €821,000
Revenue officers have seized contraband with an estimated value of €821,000 in various operations in Dublin, the Midlands and Rosslare Europort over the last week.
The detections were made as a result of risk profiling and intelligence led operations, and included the following:
The herbal cannabis and other drugs were discovered, with the assistance of detector dogs Mollaigh, Sam, Enzo and Ciara, whilst Revenue officers were examining parcels at premises in Dublin and the Midlands. The parcels originated from the USA, the UK and Canada, and were destined for various addresses nationwide.
The tobacco and alcohol products were seized in various operations in the Midlands and Rosslare. Twenty-three weapons were also seized in the Midlands.
The cash amounts, which totalled €26,170 and £6,000, were seized in three separate operations at Rosslare Europort. Judge Kevin Staunton granted a three-month cash detention order in respect of each seizure at a special sitting of Gorey District Court.
The counterfeit goods were seized as they were confirmed by the Rights Holder to have infringed on Intellectual Property Rights.
The alcohol consisted of wine, beer, whiskey, spirits and unidentified unlabelled alcohol. The tobacco products consisted of 197,000 cigarettes and almost 3kg of tobacco, branded Septwolves, Black Eight, Amber Leaf, Marlboro, Winston, JPS Blue, Rothmans, L&B, and Benson and Hedges
The various illicit drugs consisted of cannabis oil, cannabis resin, edibles, reefers, cocaine, suspected MDMA, and numerous Diazapan, Alprazalam and Zopiclone tablets.
The counterfeit goods were branded Adidas, Asics, Birkenstock, Boss, , Burberry, Calven Klein, Chanel, On Cloud, Christian Dior, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Moncler, New Balance, Nike, Northface, Fendi, Polo, Ralph Lauren, Tissot, Tommy Hilfiger, Versace, Ray-Ban, Stone Island, O'Neills, Coach, and Tiffany. The weapons consisted of smoke bombs, airguns and flares.
A spokesperson for Revenue said investigations into all seizures are ongoing.
They added: 'These seizures are part of Revenue's ongoing operations targeting smuggling and shadow economy activity. If businesses, or members of the public, have any information regarding smuggling, they can contact Revenue in confidence on 1800 295 295.'
