By Joe McCabe

OVER 9 million cigarettes seized by Customs Officers at Dublin Port in Tuesday and valued at €3.1m were destined for a fictitious address in Cloughvalley in Carrickmacross the Post can reveal. The cigarettes are thought to have been smuggled from the Middle East to a Belgian port before being shipped to Ireland.
The ‘Raquel’ brand cigarettes are described as of an “ Unusual nature” by the Customs and Excise team who found the cargo after a surveillance operation that had lasted months.

Raquel cigarettes are produced in England and in Greece in various types, They are usually king size packs of twenty. In recent years cigarettes smuggled into Ireland have originated in Eastern Europe.