16 November 2001
More than 37 million cigarettes were found on November 7 at Warrenpoint, near the border with the Irish Republic, on the cargo vessel Sylve, which had sailed from Latvia.
On the same day, officers from the Irish customs service impounded 20 million smuggled cigarettes, worth about £4m, at the nearby port of Dundalk. These were on the Maria M, a ship that had sailed from Estonia.
The seizures were part of an international operation aimed at clamping down on sources of finance for the Real IRA, the dissident republican paramilitary group. Intelligence officials were quoted as saying that the Real IRA had formed a partnership with criminal gangs who would sell the cigarettes.
The Northern Ireland Office last year established the Organised Crime Task Force to tackle various illegal activities used by paramilitaries to raise funds.
Earlier this month, Northern Ireland Enterprise Minister Sir Reg Empey told the NI Assembly that between £100m and £200m a year was being lost to the Treasury through cross-border fuel smuggling, which is largely in the hands of paramilitary groups.
Meanwhile, Empey's department has warned consumers to watch out for counterfeit goods – also used to fund paramilitaries. It said there had been an increase in the number of fake designer clothes seized by trading standards officers.
PFnov2001
