More than 8 million cigarettes smuggled into Dublin Port in container marked ‘car parts’

Revenue officers have seized 8.3 million smuggled cigarettes that arrived in a shipping container marked “car parts”.

The smokes – reportedly worth around €4.5 million – came into Dublin Port on a boat from Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

Revenue said in a statement: “The seized cigarettes were ‘cheap whites’ branded ‘RGD Magnum’ and ‘Mark 1’, with a retail value of over €4.5 million, representing a loss to the Exchequer of approximately €3.6 million.

Yesterday’s seizure was part of Revenue’s ongoing operations targeting the supply and sale of illegal cigarettes and tobacco on the black market.

So far this year, Revenue’s routine and intelligence-led operations – some of which involved inter-agency and international cooperation – have prevented more than 50 million smuggled cigarettes from being sold in the shadow economy.