Authorities fume: 25% of cigarettes smuggled into Republic

Almost one of four cigarettes smoked in Ireland has been smuggled in as part of an illegal trade that is costing the exchequer some €250 million a year, according to a former lead investigator for the Criminal Assets Bureau (Cab).In a report submitted to Senator Paul Coghlan, the chair of a British-Irish parliamentary committee investigating cross-Border smuggling, the investigator says cigarettes have become the new cocaine trade but without the risk.The report says the law is not being enforced rigorously enough and the smugglers are being allowed to operate with very little chance of detection on both sides of the Border.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/authorities-fume-25-of-cigarettes-smuggled-into-republic-1.2297655