More time to quiz trio over smuggled cigarettes

Detectives were given more time today to question three men over Europe’s largest ever seizure of smuggled cigarettes.

Detectives were given more time today to question three men over Europe’s largest ever seizure of smuggled cigarettes.

An Irish man, from Co Louth, a Ukrainian and a Lithuanian were arrested as an international investigation smashed an attempt to bring 120 million cigarettes into the country.

Six other Irish men detained after armed police intercepted a ship carrying the €50m contraband as it entered Greenore Port in Co Louth were released last night.

A Garda spokesman said files were being prepared on each of the released men, two of whom are from Co Armagh in the North, for the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Extensions were granted on the arrest warrants of the remaining three, including the ship’s captain and his first officer, a Ukrainian in his 40s and a Lithuanian in his 50s.

They are being held under section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984 at garda stations in Drogheda and Dundalk, Co Louth.

One Garda source said while inquiries would look at possible dissident republican involvement, there were no firm links yet established with breakaway terrorist factions.

“It’s definitely organised criminals, but how much involvement, if any, that republicans have remains to be seen,” said the source.

An estimated 1,489 bags, each stuffed with 80,000 Palace and Chelsea brand cigarettes, were hidden under animal feed onboard the German-owned MV Anne Scan cargo vessel.

The Irish Navy tracked the 80-metre ship as it approached Irish waters from the Mediterranean, having left the Philippines last month.

After it docked at Greenore Port, close to the Irish border, police and customs officials from the Republic and the North yesterday moved in as the illegal cargo was offloaded and trucked to a warehouse in Dundalk.

The impounded vessel was later taken to Dublin port where the cigarettes were being removed today to a secret customs warehouse for storage until prosecutions are brought. After that they will be destroyed.

More than 150 officers from the various Irish and UK agencies were involved in the operation.

Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said the contraband could have dealt a serious blow to tax revenues, at a time when the country is struggling to balance its public finances.

“It should be remembered that had these cigarettes not been seized, they could have represented an estimated loss of €40m in tax revenue to public services,” he said.

“This potential €40m shortfall equates to the cost of employing over 700 teachers in our education system.”

Austin Rowan, of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), said the seizure was unprecedented in the EU.

“I’ve been involved with cigarette investigations for 15 years now and as far as we’re aware this is the biggest ever seizure in the history of the European Union,” he said.

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