When is a crime not a crime?
Yesterday I came across a piece.
Gardaí and Revenue have ‘dismantled’ Ireland’s first ever illegal cigarette factory in Co Louth.
In a hen’s teeth moment I Tweeted it along with the comment “The first of many such facilities, I would imagine? Nothing to do with exorbitant taxation of course“. It got quite a reaction!
Surprisingly [or not] the reaction mainly centred around the fact that there were “foreign” criminals and how they should be immediately packed off home, overlooking the simple fact that as EU citizens they are free to march straight back in.
But are they criminals? Under Irish law they are, but that law is there purely to protect the gubmint’s tax grab. That “illegal” factory was doing what any tobacco company is doing – producing cigarettes. What they were doing is manufacturing and not harming anyone, except maybe for an infringement of copyright. They were following the basic law of economics – supplying to fill a demand.
But of course there has to be the implication that they are robbing us by not paying tax. They have “stolen” €12 million from the exchequer. That is pure unadulterated bollox. They haven’t stolen anything. The exchequer hasn’t grabbed a potential €12 million but that is not even a loss – it is a potential lack of money which cannot be entered on any balance sheet. If someone declares that I owe them €100 and I don’t pay it, are they then any worse off? Have I stolen that €100? Of course not and it it utter nonsense to suggest that I did.
If anyone is at fault here it’s the gubmint. They impose punitive taxes on cigarettes for no other reason that a religious zeal, to supposedly protect us from ourselves and “encourage” us to cease doing something of which they disapprove. If someone wants to go into the business of circumventing those horrendous taxes then they have my full unconditional support.
If the gubmint wants to really do something to prevent these factories springing up [which they will continue to do] then there is a very simple answer. All they have to do is reduce those exorbitant taxes to a reasonable level in line with taxes on any other product.
All those “criminals” were doing was preventing theft by the exchequer.
It’s more of an anit-crime?
Saw the Tweet on Dick’s feed. Was impressed at the quality of machinery and what must have been a substantial capital investment. Also they are using the Mayfair branding without any warning labels.
What I draw from this is they have a ready market for their prodigious output and actually intend for their customers to know they’re not duty paid or EU compliant.
As Mayfair is a budget brand they don’t need to use complex or expensive mixes, just virginia and burley plus a touch of flavouring and additives.
While I fully agree it’s likely this is one of many, I doubt the others will be as sophisticated. To stay in this business long term it’s crucial to keep it small and move production frequently. Something that’ll fit in a lock up garage is ideal. And keep the number of operatives low as well as handsomely rewarded.
Those they never find, thankfully.
I really was impressed by the sophistication of the operation. Not only was there massive capital investment but a ton of expertise. That machinery is not the kind of thing you can carry in your hand luggage?
My hope is that at some stage those in power will realise that taxation is far too high and that they are actually losing out to these alternative sources [I refuse to call ’em criminals!].
Personally I doubt we’ll ever see any relaxation by the authorities. At least not while we continually vote for the same political parties.
And again I’m with you that they’re not criminals; the price of ingredients alone make it impossible to ignore the opportunities of making stupendous profits.
The people they catch are most likely small fry. The real brains and money will be well removed.
How they shift their stock may yield more, if they had details on site, which I doubt. Certainly there will be hundreds involved in retailing the cigarettes, so I hope for their sake that sort of information was kept secure, otherwise a stack of businesses may be landed with a visit from the fuzz.
Alan Watts said “All government is, is the current mot successful criminal gang.”
Bang on the money.
That’s just the sort of immigration we all need – independent, entrepreneurial, creative, hard-working, market-focused, customer-satisfying, non-benefits-claiming. So your Gubmint then turns them into criminals and spends £50k a year to keep each of them in jail.
Please send them across the Irish Sea, we need more of their type to offset some of the millions permanently sucking on the UK Welfare-teat.
“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
You’d think after the failure of alcohol prohibition in the USA and the “war on drugs” that politicians would realize that policing peoples personal lives is an expensive waste of time. Are they really as stupid as they look?
But then punitive taxation/prohibition also means bigger budgets for coppers and prison screws (and more opportunities to have their palms greased), more opportunities for politicians to grandstand and be seen to be “doing something”. Maybe they’re not so stupid after all.