City postman accused of selling cut-price cigarettes

A retailer in Galway City has lodged a complaint to the Customs division of the Revenue Commissioners about a postman who is allegedly selling cut-price cigarettes while he delivers the post.
The newsagent who made the complaint has experienced a drop of up to 40 per cent in his takings in tobacco sales since the part-time postman started flogging the half-priced packs while on his rounds in the area.
The practice has become a major problem for retailers, who believe they lost nearly half a million in revenue to the black market in 2008. The cigarettes are sourced in Eastern Europe, where a pack costs just 74c, or are counterfeit brands made in the Far East.
Some of Ireland’s leading brands are being copied by counterfeiters, complete with forged Irish tax stamp and dual language health warning.
They are then sold on for €3-€4, half the price of a pack sold over the counter here.
There have been numerous examples of illegal sales on the black market in the last few years. Pizza delivery staff in Dublin, an insurance salesman in Limerick, a real estate agent in the Westmeath and Offaly areas, have all been reported to customs officials for selling tobacco. It has also become increasingly prevalent on market days in large towns.
Retailers against Smuggling (RAS) is a lobby group that has been set up to curb the practice which is funded by tobacco companies and representing retailers and major chains such as SuperValu and Topaz garages. They claim up to 10,000 jobs could be lost through the phenomenon. Overall cigarette sales are down 30 per cent, but they say there is no corresponding fall in the number of smokers. Some 30 per cent of traditional newsagent revenues come from cigarette sales.
Spokesman Paddy Donohoe says smuggling tobacco is extremely lucrative with little or no risk attached. One 40ft container of cigarettes from Ukraine could result in profits of amost €2m.
While penalties for drugs smuggling attract jail terms, there has not been a single custodial sentence for smuggling tobacco in Ireland yet, with just minimal fines for those caught, he said.
The Government has increased the excise on cigarettes by more than €1 in the last three budgets, which is fuelling the illegal trade in Ireland, which has the highest price in the EU for cigarettes.
Research conducted by RAS found that in the first six months of this year, there were 51 seizures of smuggled cigarettes. In all, 29 of those seizures involved foreign nationals.
There have been just seven prosecutions for those caught selling counterfeit cigarettes between January and June – six of them foreign shopkeepers or traders. Overall cigarette sales are down 30 per cent, but they say there is no corresponding fall in the number of smokers.