RETAILERS WANT THE government to invest more resources in protecting Ireland against smugglers.
Retailers Against Smuggling made the call after a consignment of black cigarettes were seized in Killybegs, Co Donegal yesterday.
The ship, which arrived from St Petersburg, had 6,200 cigarettes with a retail value of approximately €2,860 on board.
Revenue seized the craft and illegal cigarettes and questioned a Russian crew member.
Benny Gilsenan, spokesman for RAS said smugglers are increasingly targeting smaller Irish ports and harbours to offload their consignments.
The Irish coastline provides an open door for smugglers. It’s hard to believe that a ship would travel all the way from a Russian port to Donegal, but this is exactly what happened.
“While we commend Revenue for their vigilance and dedication in making this latest seizure, we are calling on the Government to make more resources available to catch these criminals.”
Revenue seized more than 40 million black market cigarettes last year.
Retailers Against Smuggling represents almost 3,000 independent retailers across Ireland.
They want more portable scanners to protect the coastline.
Gilsenan also called on the public to contact the Revenue about suspicious activity in confidence on the free phone number 1800 295 295.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say