Revenue seize contraband worth over €390,000 in Dublin

Over the course of recent days, Revenue officers seized contraband worth approximately €390,000 during the course of numerous unrelated operations in Dublin and Donegal.

Revenue officers made the following discoveries when searching premises in Dublin and Donegal respectively:

• 37,600 cigarettes of various brands, with an estimated value of €31,000, representing a potential loss to the Exchequer of €24,800. Cash to the value of €2,935 (euro) and a quantity of alcohol were also seized.
• Cash to the value of approximately €57,500, comprising €42,102 (euro) and £13,240 (sterling).

Both of these seizures were made as a result of intelligence led operations and with the assistance of Detector Dog Toby. Two woman have been questioned in relation to these discoveries.

It is suspected that the cash is the proceeds of, or intended for use in, criminal activity and is detained by Revenue in accordance with proceeds of crime legislation. Revenue officers were granted a three-month cash detention order in respect of each cash discovery.

In addition, the following seizures were made by Revenue officers examining parcels at a premises in Dublin:

• approximately 9.5kgs of herbal cannabis, with a value of almost €189,000,
• various quantities of other illegal drugs, with an estimated value of approximately €9,400, and
• a quantity of retail goods, with an estimated value of over €101,000.

The illegal drugs were discovered in parcels that originated in the USA, the United Kingdom, India, Canada, Spain and Thailand, and were destined for various addresses nationwide.

The retail goods were seized due to infringements of Intellectual Property Rights.

Investigations into all seizures are ongoing.

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.