Revenue Officers Seize €765,000 Worth of Contraband Across Multiple Regions

Revenue officers have successfully seized contraband worth an estimated €765,000 over the past week in a series of intelligence-led operations across Dublin, the Midlands, Rosslare Europort, and the South-East.

The detections, made through risk profiling, resulted in the confiscation of a variety of illicit goods, including:

• 32.4kg of herbal cannabis, valued at almost €650,000.
• Various illicit drugs, worth over €48,000.
• 1,516 illicit tablets, with an estimated value of nearly €2,400.
• 600 cigarettes and almost 12kg of tobacco products, valued at over €11,000, with an estimated loss to the Exchequer of €8,435.
• 166 counterfeit items, with a total estimated value exceeding €53,600.

The herbal cannabis and illicit drugs, some of which were detected with the assistance of Revenue’s detector dogs Ciara, Sam, Grace, and Enzo, were found while officers examined parcels at locations in Dublin and the Midlands. These packages originated from the Czech Republic, France, Poland, The Netherlands, The United Kingdom, Thailand, Spain, and India, and were destined for addresses in Austria, Croatia, France, Romania, and throughout Ireland.

The illicit tablets seized included Alprazolam, Zolpidem, Diazepam, Tapentadol, and Zopiclone.

The counterfeit goods, which were verified as Intellectual Property Rights infringements by their respective rights holders, included brands such as Adidas, Ami, Canada Goose, Celine, Chanel, Dior, Gucci, Lacoste, Louis Vuitton, Moncler, New Balance, Nike, The North Face, On Cloud, Ralph Lauren, Stone Island, Ugg, Brooks, and New Balance.

In Rosslare Europort and the Midlands, almost 91 litres of alcohol—comprising 40 litres of beer, 14 litres of spirits, and 109.5 litres of wine—were seized. This alcohol, with a retail value of over €2,600, represented a potential loss to the Exchequer of almost €1,250.

Additionally, nine weapons, including pepper spray, a shock baton, and two telescopic batons, were confiscated in the Midlands.

Revenue has confirmed that investigations into all seizures are ongoing. These actions form part of its continued efforts to combat smuggling and shadow economy activities.

Members of the public and businesses with information regarding smuggling are encouraged to report it in confidence to Revenue on 1800 295 295.