A Mayo man arrested in the UK for trying to smuggle cigarettes in a shipment of bananas has been jailed for two years.
30-year-old John Vahey of Ballyhaunis was caught with 2.7m cigarettes at the Poole Ferryport after coming over from Cherbourg, France in 1 December, 2007.
British customs officials say the cigarettes represented £400,000 in excise duty.
The cigarettes were hiding among 530 boxes of bananas, which were donated to the ape rescue charity Monkey World in Dorset (below).
Vahey was sentenced at Southampton Crown Court yesterday after pleading guilty to the offence on last month.
Peter Avery, Assistant Director Criminal Investigation for HMRC, said: 'Smugglers are only out to make a profit. They undercut honest cigarette retailers and do not care about the harm they cause.'
Speaking of harm, the Department of Health & Children estimates that 7,000 people die from smoking-related diseases each year in Ireland, costing taxpayers €1bn per year for their health services.
