Wednesday, 1st October 2008 - 12:50CET

Alcohol found hidden in consignment of mushrooms, tomatoes

Customs officers late yesterday seized a trailer which arrived from Sicily after wines and spirits were found hidden in its declared cargo of mushrooms and tomatoes.

A spokesman for the Customs Department said today that Customs officers searched the trailer after escorting it from the quay to the importer's warehouse.

They found 154 bottles of whisky, gin, vodka and brandy along with 93 litres of wine in packets.

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Comments

l Galea (on 1/10/08)

@martin borg
A free market means NO taxes between parts of the market.

The eu market is eu-wide but the eu still allows some taxation to take place.

However, if you really believe in a free market there should not be any obstacles to buy anything from any other eu country and taking it back without paying any taxes.

It's as if you live in Floriana and you go to Valletta and buy something and then the Floriana Local Council forces you to pay a tax because you bought what you needed from a Valletta shop.

martin borg (on 1/10/08)

@ I. Galea.

Free market does not mean a free for all. Such 'imports' are nothing less than contraband, evading excise, eco, VAT and personal income tax.

Its enough that under the guise of ' personal importation' commercial quantities of spirits are being imported on a daily basis (most of which finding their way into the the retail trade). This is killing bona fide importers, endangering employment with these same and depriving the local exchequer of much needed revenue.

There's only one solution. Make contraband unattractive by lowering local excise on spirits to Italian levels (currently 33% of maltese excise duties).

Johann Mifsud (on 1/10/08)

on the spirits yes, there is an excise duty but on the wine no

Charles Micallef (on 1/10/08)

Is it so easy for someone to abuse the importation system,

The customs must have a good perception, well done to all concerned

M Xuereb (on 1/10/08)

A big PROSIT to the Customs Department who appear to be doing a very good job in recent years. Gone are the days when these officers were only renowned for their notoriety in demanding their share of the Mars bars and toothpaste beong smuggled into the country and to which they were closing their eyes on.

Iris Azzopardi (on 1/10/08)

As far as I know, there is no excise duty on wine. So what exactly was the problem?
Even with the spirits, there is an issue only because they were clearly not intended for personal use.

l Galea (on 1/10/08)

Do we have a free market across the eu or not?

B. Demanuele (on 1/10/08)

It looks as if someone is getting ready for Christmas.. the illegal path unfortunitly.

M.Fenech (on 1/10/08)

About time we arraign such culprits that are damaging heavily our economy. Not only, even the shop owners that buy from such illegal consignments should be held responsible. Discipline is required on all fronts to deter more of these illegal activities.