Excise and Tax Fraud

Tobacco smuggling into Northern Ireland is carried out both on a commercial scale by organised crime gangs and on a smaller scale by teams of smugglers or opportunistic individuals.  Counterfeit cigarettes and tobacco may be particularly attractive to those on lower incomes and young people. They are often manufactured in unregulated conditions and are not subject to any quality controls so consumers have no idea what they are actually smoking.  A BBC investigation carried out in Scotland recently found that counterfeit tobacco sold at a Scottish market contained more than 30 times the lead levels of genuine tobacco and that smoking twenty of these market bought cigarettes would have been as harmful as smoking 600 genuine cigarettes.

Alcohol Fraud

Counterfeit alcohol continues to be found sporadically, particularly in border regions. In the past this type of product has been found locally to include dangerously high levels of toxic chemicals. Links have been seen between the supply of counterfeit tobacco and counterfeit alcohol to both loyalist and republican paramilitary groups, including dissident republican groups.

Oils Fraud

Over the past 12 months HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have closed down and dismantled 15 large scale fuel laundering plants (and a number of smaller ones) in Northern Ireland. The 15 plants had the capacity to produce nearly 90 million litres of illicit fuel.There has been a general trend towards larger and more sophisticated oils laundering plants. This suggests an industrialisation of the process as organised criminal groups attempt to maximise their profits. This is also reflected in the move toward the production, distribution and retail of illegal fuel being controlled by the same crime gangs. and the tendency for illegal fuel to be retailed at or near supermarket prices rather than at markedly lower levels. This makes it more difficult for consumers to tell what they are buying and vastly increases the profit margins of the fraud. Fuel laundering results in large quantities of waste product which must be disposed of by the launders. This waste product will usually be dumped or buried and causes significant environmental damage. The waste can contaminate surrounding land as well as waterways and can lead to extensive clean-up costs.

 
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