Revenue Seize Contraband Worth Over €2m

Tuesday, 1 July 2025 15:16

The cigarettes and alcohol products were seized across the Midlands region.

Revenue officers seized contraband with an estimated value of €2,051,630 in various operations in the Midlands, Dublin, and Rosslare Europort, over the past week.

The detections were made as a result of risk profiling and intelligence led operations, and included the following:

4.18kg of herbal cannabis with an estimated value of over €82,000,
Various illicit tablets with an estimated value of over €24,000,
Various other illicit drugs with an estimated value of almost €7,000,
Fake euro notes with a value of €24,330,
nearly 86 litres of alcohol with an estimated value of almost €1,700, representing a potential loss to the Exchequer of almost €1,000,
2,000kg of tobacco, with an estimated value of over €1,750,000, and represents a potential loss to the exchequer of over €1,335,000,
1,800 cigarettes with an estimated value of over €1,600, representing a potential loss to the Exchequer of over €1,200, and
424 counterfeit items with an estimated value of over €161,000.

The tobacco was seized on Thursday, as a result of risk profiling, in Dublin Port. The tobacco is branded “Flandria Virginia English”, and was seized under Section 141 Finance Act 2001. A man was charged and has since appeared before the courts. Investigations are ongoing.

The herbal cannabis was discovered, with the assistance of detector dogs Enzo and Ciara, whilst Revenue officers were examining parcels at premises in Dublin and the Midlands. The parcels originated from the USA, Poland, Spain and Canada, and were destined for various addresses nationwide.

The cigarettes and alcohol products were seized in various operations in the Midlands and Rosslare. Four weapons were also seized in the Midlands and mailing centres, the fake euro notes were seized in Dublin.

The counterfeit goods were seized as they were confirmed by the Rights Holder to have infringed on Intellectual Property Rights.

Investigations into all seizures are ongoing.

These seizures are part of Revenue’s ongoing operations targeting smuggling and shadow economy activity. If businesses, or members of the public, have any information regarding smuggling, they can contact Revenue in confidence on 1800 295 295.