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Alcohol seized at ports doubled last year

Alcohol seized at ports doubled last year

The amount of illicit alcohol seized at Ireland's ports and airports doubled last year.

The vast majority was recovered at Dublin Port.

These new figures have been released under the Freedom of Information Act.

They reveal the number of seizures at Dublin, Knock, Shannon and Cork airports, along with Dublin, Cork and Rosslare Ports.

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In 2018, nearly €1.24m worth of illicit alcohol was seized at seven locations.

This rose to over €2.5m last year.

Patricia Callan, a director of Drinks Ireland, says it is very positive news.

"I think illegal alcohol trade is rife throughout the world, in particular in high taxation jurisdictions," she said.

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Ireland has the second-highest excise of anywhere in the EU so it is a target market for people who want to profit from that.

"We certainly welcome Revenue's efforts in terms of seizing the illegal alcohol and doubling those figures has been very impressive."

The vast majority of the illicit alcohol recovered last year was seized at Dublin Port, at €2.38m.

This included more than €1.1m of beer.

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Revenue says the overall increase during the year due to increased co-operation between Revenue and other EU member states, in relation to the movement of product between bonded warehouses within the European Union.

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