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DUBLIN AIRPORT HAS become one of Ireland’s cigarette smuggling hubs , a retailers group has warned.
Retailers Against Smuggling, which represents nearly 3,000 independent retail outlets in a campaign against the illegal cigarette trade, said that recent seizures by Customs officers at the capital’s airport indicated it was being targeted by criminal gangs.
The organisation urged the government to introduce a minimum fine for cigarette smuggling which would deter criminals.
Over 140,000 cigarettes with an estimated retail value of nearly €60,000 were seized after a search of 23 passengers who arrived at Dublin airport on a flight from Moldova via Budapest in Hungary on Friday night.
Meanwhile, last Tuesday three men and a woman from Poland were arrested after nearly 55,000 cigarettes were discovered in their suitcases following their arrival on a flight from London. The cigarettes had an estimated retail value of over €22,000.
“It shows that the airport is fast becoming one of Ireland’s cigarette smuggling hubs,” said Retailers Against Smuggling’s national spokesman Benny Gilsenan who runs a greengrocers on Emmet Street in Dublin.
He added:
It is clear that this was a major operation and the airport is being targeted by criminal gangs. It is much easier to bring in suitcases full of cigarettes than ship a container half way round the world.
Gilsenan also urged the government to forgo any increase in excise duty in the forthcoming Budget, a move which he said would protect Irish retail jobs.
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We send over children’s allowance, they send back cheap fags…. Walk into any eastern European ‘food store’ and you can pick up 200 cigs €25/30. I’m surprised the Garda don’t do more checks to be honest.
Garda need warrants! It’s always a blame game. What about customs at the point of entry?
Seems to be always eastern european smokes. If so its not going to make a diff how they get em in, suitcase, friends, family. They’re not going to pay Irish prices.
We get ripped off left right and centre. Everyone here is jealous they don’t have the balls to do the same. Cause ye can’t say those taxes lost will make any diff, we never had em. Never will.
Maybe we should start finger banging ever person who goes thru the airport to ensure they arent carrying like the Americans do? Or like in Aus where they’ve astronomical border security to prevent foreign animals and plants getting in?
There goes ALL the tax plus some.
Ye ever hear of the war on drugs? Have you seen the money poured into that unsuccessfully?
Ban them altogether and fine anyone found with them the max
Yes and while we’re at it, lets tackle a far more harmful ssubstance the same way. Alcohol…. Ban it and fine anyone with it to the max
How is alcohol far worse?
The damage that alcohol does in terms of cost of the state far outstrips Cigarettes. Remember that alcohol destroys your liver and heart, can lead to increased physical spousal and child abuse (and the subsequent ER visits), leads to the break-up of many families (and the subsequent cost to the state of single parent payments, fostering, social welfare, welfare officers etc etc etc), and of course leads to long term diseases which the state ends up paying for well into your older years (if you survive). We are accepting of alcohol because almost everyone enjoys a drink, the same as we were with smoking up until very recent years. And this is coming from a drinker.
Indeed, there are far more people who drink then who smoke!!!!
There are plenty of bad habits around, and some as harmful as cigarettes, but none taxed in the same draconian way. If people are foolish enough to smoke, and can’t afford it due to the taxes, then what choice have they but to buy bootleg fags? It is an addiction, just like alcohol addiction and gambling addiction. If they reduce the tax cost of cigarettes that those foolish enough to want them can afford them, they would kill the black market and probably make more revenue in the long run with increased sales of legitimate cigarettes.
All this proves is that tax is economically too high on cigarettes. You are permitted to bring a few thousand tax paid cigarettes from another EU state for personal use, and most EU states charge just half what we do. Point of diminishing returns has been reached and people are entitled to buy them abroad for themselves tax paid.
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