A DETECTOR dog has helped Revenue officers sniff out more than €6m worth of cigarettes in Co. Cork.
Rua uncovered the illicit cigarettes, branded ‘Lambert and Butler’, when Revenue officers examined an unaccompanied trailer arriving into the Port of Cork on Friday from Zeebrugge, Belgium.
The roughly 7.3m cigarettes have an estimated value of over €6.1m, which equates to a potential loss to the Exchequer of €4.8m.
The seizure follows a similar discovery on Wednesday, which saw detector dog Milo help Revenue officers uncover 13.3m cigarettes at Dublin Port.
Branded ‘Marlboro Slims’, ‘Marlboro Gold’ and ‘L&M Red’, the cigarettes were also found in an unaccompanied trailer from Zeebrugge.
Valued at more than €11m, it would have represented a potential loss to the Exchequer of €8.9m.
Revenue has said investigations are ongoing into both seizures and have asked anyone with information on the supply of illegal cigarettes and tobacco to contact 1800 295295.