With prices on the black market reportedly around €5-6, it threatens the business of local retailers which has already drastically shrunk in recent years.

A recent poll commissioned by Retailers Against Smuggling found that 33% of Irish smokers are prepared to purchase illegal tobacco, with that figure as high as 50% among 18-34 year olds.

Tobacco smuggling

Up to November 1 this year Revenue have made 23 seizures of tobacco, totalling more than 51.5 million cigarettes, 6 tonnes of rolling tobacco and 312kg of raw tobacco. The value of these seizures is € 45,458,030 and represents a loss to the Exchequer of € 35,317,850.

The Minister for Finance Michael McGrath has stated that there are only three mobile scanners available to Revenue for scanning containers coming into the country’s ports. While the mobile units can be deployed to any port or warehouse throughout the country, these resources lack the capacity to adequately monitor the 1.2 million freight vehicles and trailers passing through the three main Irish ports alone in 2022.

Retailers Against Smuggling (RAS) commends the ongoing work by Revenue officials in the fight against smuggling, particularly at our major points of entry through ports and airports. However, the issue of tobacco smuggling remains a huge threat for registered and legitimate tobacco retailers whose legal cigarette trade can account for 20–30% of their business.

RAS encourages anyone with information on the sale or supply of illegal cigarettes and tobacco to contact Revenue’s confidential hotline. Free phone number 1800 295 295

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Retailers in Ireland have raised concerns about the fourth major seizure of illegal cigarettes in the past three weeks, saying it points to an “exceptionally active” black market in the sale of tobacco products.

Retailers Against Smuggling (RAS), a representative body of more than 3,000 small and medium-sized businesses, welcomed the seizure in early August by Revenue of 7.2m cigarettes at Dublin Port worth an estimated retail value of more than €5m representing a potential loss to the exchequer of €3.9m.

€5m haul ‘indicates the scale of smuggling’

“This, the fourth major seizure in recent weeks is yet another first-hand indicator of an exceptionally active black market and the scale of tobacco smuggling in Ireland,” RAS said in a statement.

The illegal cigarettes branded ‘Richmond’ were discovered, with the assistance of Revenue’s mobile X-ray scanner, in a container that had arrived into Dublin Port on a vessel from Rotterdam.

Revenue said the seizure is part of Revenue’s ongoing operations targeting the shadow economy and the supply and sale of illegal tobacco products, and said businesses or members of the public who have information regarding smuggling should contact them in confidence.

Fight against smuggling

“RAS commends the ongoing work by Revenue officials in the fight against smuggling, particularly at our major points of entry through ports and airports,” the retailers’ group said in a statement.

“However, the issue of tobacco smuggling remains a huge threat for registered and legitimate tobacco retailers whose legal cigarette trade can account for 20% to 30% of their business.

Revenue made four major seizures of cigarettes in three weeks with the help of mobile X-ray scanner

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The illegal haul was seized at Dublin Port as a result of routine profiling. Revenue’s X-ray scanner and detector dog Waffle assisted in uncovering over 12.5 tonnes of loose tobacco. The consignment originated in Bulgaria and would have represented a loss to the Exchequer of approximately €6.3 million, the Irish Times reported.

The Revenue’s is focusing ongoing operations targeting the shadow economy and the sale and supply of illegal tobacco products.

Businesses or members of the public with any information regarding smuggling can contact Revenue in confidence on free phone number 1800 295 295.

Benny Gilsenan, spokesman for Retailers Against Smuggling, told the Irish Times this is the third large haul in recent months.

Mr Gilsenan, who owns a newsagent close to the North Circular Road in Dublin, said the people importing these consignments feel they are “immune to the law” and stricter sanctions are needed to deter criminals. They sell their product loose to consumers in the same way dealers would sell illegal drugs.

In its headline results for 2020, Revenue reported a total of 4,390 seizures of cigarettes and other tobacco with a value of €32.7m. This compares to a value of €10.52m for 2019 representing a threefold increase, according to Retailers Against Smuggling.

The newsagent told the newspaper that he first became aware of the issue of tobacco smuggling in the early 90s, when he began to see smokers in his area using products that could not be bought in stores.

“In every budget since 2000, cigarettes have gone up in price… They push up the price of tobacco for us in retail. The whole idea is to force people not to buy it, but it has forced people not to buy it from us,” he added.

IFCR will have a full report into the illicit tobacco and cigarette ‘trade’ in its next issue.

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