Jump to full article: Irish Examiner (ie), 2009-07-10
Author: Ann Cahill Europe Correspondent
Intro: CIGARETTE smuggling is becoming a very serious problem in Ireland because a combination of the highest price in the European Union and the economic downturn is making it very attractive to smugglers.
Dave Godwin, head of the Customs Criminal Investigations in Dublin, said that with the price of a cigarette packet now about €8.45 and the tax and duties accounting for €6.63 of that, the market was lucrative for smugglers.
"We are even seeing counterfeit John Player Blue, a brand almost uniquely confined to Dublin. They are going to the trouble of replicating in good quality the packaging and the Irish tax stamp," said Mr Godwin.
There is a price difference of about €1.65 for a pack of 20 cigarettes between the Republic and the North. . . .
Releasing their annual report in Brussels yesterday OLAF director general, Franz-Hermann Bruner said, "Our co-operation with the Office of the Revenue Commissioners is very positive. In 2008 we were particularly successful in a case against cigarette smugglers operating via Singapore."
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