Illicit Tobacco
Tobacco smuggling continues to one of the highest priority areas for HM Revenue and Customs criminal investigations in Northern Ireland. Organised criminals in Northern Ireland operate at the higher levels of UK cigarette smuggling and are known to smuggle cigarettes into NI, before onward transhipment to the rest of the UK and to the Republic of Ireland . Additionally, cigarettes seized outside Northern Ireland both in the UK mainland and internationally, may have been destined for the Northern Ireland market. While it is not possible to indicate what percentage of the amount seized in Northern Ireland is directly attributable to organised criminality, significant seizures in the past year which are believed to be directly linked to organised criminality, have totalled over 33 million.
The main source area for these commercial quantities of cigarettes is the Far East, with increasing quantities of the smuggled cigarettes being counterfeit as opposed to genuine products. Counterfeit cigarettes do not comply with the manufacturers specifications and are known to contain significantly higher levels of harmful chemicals. Click here for HMRC Report on Counterfeit Cigarettes 2004.
In 2004/05:
- 1,060 million illicit cigarettes destined for the UKmarket were seized overseas;
HMRC officers:
- 960 million illicit cigarettes in the UK ; including
- 35 million cigarette sticks in Northern Ireland; and
- Disrupted 68 gangs involved in tobacco smuggling.
