101 million smuggled cigarettes seized in Belgian raid......30 million smuggled cigarettes recovered in Dublin raid. IN BELGIUM Customs seized 101 million smuggled cigarettes destined for Britain yesterday in a raid that highlights the huge black market in contraband tobacco driven by the highest price of smoking in Europe. The cigarettes were recovered from three warehouses in Liège in eastern Belgium in a coup described as one of the largest in a single operation in the European Union. It will, however, make only a small dent in the ten billion cigarettes estimated to be slipped into Britain every year, which Revenue & Customs believes cost the Treasury up to 2.5 billion annually in lost tax. “This is a record haul and a significant breakthrough,” said a spokesman for Belgian Customs. Five men were arrested in the raid. It was unclear last night whether the cigarettes had been bought cheaply in Eastern Europe or were counterfeit, in which case they would most likely have come from Russia, a big source of fakes found in Britain and a known source of overland smuggling via Belgium. The main origin of fake cigarettes in Britain is China, although the most likely route for Chinese tobacco products is by sea.
IN THE UK About 1.5m packets of contraband cigarettes have been seized in Counties Louth and Meath by Customs and gardaí. The international operation involved the PSNI and British customs authorities, as well as French police.
Four containers containing the cigarettes arrived in Dublin from Singapore on Wednesday, having come en route from France. Officers swooped on three premises in Meath and Louth on Thursday night, and seized the cigarettes worth 11m euros.
Customs sources said the cigarettes were driven in freight containers to various locations on four trucks, and across the border into Northern Ireland, by a gang seeking to check if they were under surveillance before delivering the contraband.
Several people are being questioned after arrests at four locations in the Republic of Ireland. It is thought the cigarettes were destined for both the Irish and UK black markets.
SEE Prior Post; Saturday, May 31, 2008, POLICE SAY SMUGGLED CIGARETTE CRIME RING PUT OUT OF BUSINESS IN TAMPA SCAM, MAYBE NOT SO MUCH, OLD HABITS HARD TO KICK.
Bill Warner
Private Investigator
Sarasota Fl
www.wbipi.com
