Latest news about crime and security in Ireland. Information about the black market collected from international organizations, intelligence reports, national security agencies and news articles.
The prostitution industry in Ireland is estimated to generate up to $326 Million (€250 Million) per year.
(Prostitution revenue by country.)
Source: Ailin Quinlan, “Prostitution in Ireland: Selling your body and your soul,” Irish Examiner, May 5, 2013.
The Small Firms Association, a small business adovocay organizaiton in Ireland, illicit economic activity in Ireland costs the government up to $7.8 Billion (6 Billion Euros) a year. The amount of black market activity takes up to 16 percent of the country’s GDP.
Source: ”Black market ‘needs action’,” Irish Examiner, April 15, 2013.
According to government officials in Ireland, the average price a legitimate pack of cigarettes sold in retail stores is $12 (€9.20).
Criminal gangs purchase counterfeit packs for as little as $0.26 (€0.20), and then sell the packs on the black market for $5.87 (€4.50).
In 2011, an estimated 770 million illegal cigarettes were smoked in Ireland.
Source: Fiona O’shea, “Black market cigarette trade on the increase,” Independent (Ireland), March 17, 2013.
The Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals estimates that tens of thousands of puppies are trafficked from Ireland into the United Kingdom. The traffickers are meeting the demand of puppies due to a shortage in the UK from strict spaying and neutering polices that have lowered the dog population.
Trafficking rings are selling the puppies on the black market at prices between $255 to $1,275 (€200 to €1,000). The types of puppies being sold are Jack Russells, Labradors, springer spaniels, cocker spaniels and beagles.
Source: Treacy Hogan, “Puppy trafficking netting criminals millions,” Irish Independent, November 5, 2012.
A cigarette smuggler transporting 50,000 cigarettes to be sold on the black market would make a profit of $11,227 (€8,700) in Ireland. A van would hold ten times the amount of cigarettes, thus leading to a profit of $112,000. A shipping container can hold up to 7,500,000 black market cigarettes, giving the smuggler a $1.6 Million ( €1.3 Million) profit.
Legitimate packs of cigarettes are sold for $12.90 (10 Euros) a pack. Cigarettes sold by smugglers on the black market are sold for $5.1 (4 Euros) a pack.
Source: “Illegal trade costs State €860m in lost revenue,” Independent.ie, October 28, 2012.
In 2011, an estimated 65 Billion cigarettes were smoked in the European Union that was smuggled and purchased on the black market.The black market cigarettes caused a loss of tax revenue of $1.2 Billion (1 Billion Euros) for the EU budget and up to $11 Billion in lost tax revenue for EU member states.
Sales of black market cigarettes in Spain increased by 300 percent in 2011, with 4.6 Billion cigarettes being sold illegally. In Ireland, the market for smuggled cigarettes was 17 percent of the total cigarette market in 2011.
Worldwide, cigarette smuggling causes losses in tax revenue of $50 Billion.
Source: Stephen Castle and Doreen Carvajal, “Europe’s Downturn Creates Unlikely Smugglers,” New York Times, July 11, 2012.
In 2010-2011, National Advisory Committee on Drugs reported that 0.5 percent of the adult population in Ireland used ecstasy. In 2006-2007, the use of ecstasy by adults was 1.2 percent of the population.
Click here to see world prices of ecstasy.
Source: Genevieve Carbery, “Use of ecstasy continues to fall,” Irish Times, June 20, 2012.
The National Police force of Ireland investigated 53 cases of human trafficking in 2011 that involved 57 people.
37 cases were for sex trafficking that involved 7 children.
84 percent of all victims involved in the human trafficking cases were women.
Source: Pamela Duncan, “A quarter of 2011 trafficking cases involved minors,” Irish Times, May 2, 2012.
$752 Million (575 Million Euros) was lost in revenue in Ireland in 2010 due to cigarette smuggling. $549 Million was lost in taxes and duty revenue for the government in 2010.
Cigarettes sold on the black market in Ireland are sold for $$4.16 a pack (3.20 Euros), roughly one-third of the price for a pack of cigarettes sold at a retail store.
The illicit trade caused about 700 retail jobs to be lost.
Source: Pamela Duncan, “Cigarette smuggling ‘costing jobs’,” Irish Times, January 31, 2012.
In 2011, the National Police in Ireland seized counterfeit currency 375 times during the year. The number of counterfeit money detection was lower than the 552 incidents in 2010.
In 2009, there were 539 incidents of counterfeit money, and 527 incidents in 2008.
Source: “Interceptions of counterfeit notes down almost a third in 2011,” The Journal, January 30, 2012.
