Revenue Seizes €460,000 of alcohol

Revenue officers, assisted by the Garda Armed Support Unit from Dundalk, seized 586 litres of finished ‘vodka’ type product that was bottled, sealed, labelled and boxed after carrying out a search under warrant of a premises and farm buildings in County Louth recently.

Revenue also found a large-scale plant, set up to process denatured industrial alcohol.

The plant was arranged in a production line system where the officers also seized 4,000 litres of the raw alcohol product which would produce in the region of 12,000 litres of ‘vodka’ type spirits.

Revenue seized all the production line apparatus, mixing tank and containers, along with packaging, bottle caps and labels which were all counterfeit.

A forklift truck, and cash amounts of €5,000 and £1,000 were also seized. The potential retail value of the alcohol is approximately €460,000, representing a potential loss to the Exchequer of approximately €300,000

A man has been interviewed and investigations are ongoing with a view to prosecution.

Vodka is the most commonly counterfeited alcohol and often contains high quantities of methanol, a poisonous chemical that can cause breathing difficulties, liver damage or blindness – and isopropyl alcohol, a chemical solvent commonly found in nail varnish remover.

These recent seizures are part of Revenue’s ongoing operations targeting the supply and sale of illegal and counterfeit alcohol in the shadow economy.