CUSTOMS OFFICERS AT Dublin Port have seized 30 tonnes of fake perfume in the biggest seizure of counterfeit goods in the history of the State.
Some 60,000 bottles of perfume and aftershave were discovered in a container during a routine customs examination. It is believed the bottles were destined for street markets around the country.
Customs officer Mick O’Hanlon told RTÉ that the value of these goods could be in excess of €8 million with a potential loss to the Exchequer of €1.8 million.
“It all just gets busier from around Halloween onwards, we notice a bit of a spike in business,” he said.
Included in the haul were knock-off versions of perfumes and aftershaves from designers like Chanel and Ambercrombie and Fitch.
O’Hanlon warned of the danger these products could pose:
If you’re buying fake, pirated or counterfeit goods, you run the risk – obviously they don’t have manufacturing standards, they don’t have health and safety certificates and nobody knows what’s in them. They could contain anything – any amount of chemicals.
He advised consumers to buy perfumes from reputable stores, to check packaging and if the price seems to good to be true, it probably is.
Drugs seizure
Revenue officials also seized thousands of euro worth of khat, a moderately addictive drug with similar effects to an amphetamine.
It is especially popular in Somali communities where it is traditionally chewed at important gatherings and social occasions, AFP reports.
Some 53kgs of the drug with an estimated street value of €26,000 was seized at Dublin Airport yesterday evening.
The khat was found in the baggage of a 47-year-old Italian national travelling from Ethiopia’s capital Addis Adaba. He was arrested by gardaí.
- With reporting by Nicky Ryan.
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