Police and customs seize opportunity to learn about tobacco production

Police and customs officials have visited Imperial Tobacco’s fine-cut tobacco factory in Ireland at the invitation of Imperial and as part of ongoing efforts to tackle the illicit trade in tobacco products.

‘To aid them in their investigations, a group of 10 enforcement officers toured the Mullingar plant to see how legitimate tobacco products are made,’ Imperial said in a note posted on its website.

‘The visitors were shown all aspects of the manufacturing process from the bales of raw tobacco being received to packaged Golden Virginia and Drum leaving the warehouse.

‘Authorities suspect illicit factories have been set up on both sides of the Irish border due to the large amounts of unprocessed tobacco seizures in recent months.’

“The officers found our knowledge and expertise really useful and hopefully we will hear of additional seizures and prosecutions in the future,” said factory manager, Declan Hughes.

Meanwhile, Carl Philips, AIT executive in Ireland, said that building good relations with those who are hunting out Imperial’s criminal competitors was an integral part of the company’s anti-illicit trade strategy.