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Customs have already seized more than 150,000 cigarettes and 720 litres of alcohol from passengers exceeding their duty free allowances this year – and they’re launching a crackdown this summer.
From the end of this month they are recruiting extra staff to make sure that people don’t bring in more than their legal limit of cheap duty free booze and fags.
Anyone aged 17 or over can bring in a litre of spirits, four litres of wine, 16 litres of beer or cider and 200 cigarettes without having to pay duty or GST on it – or, if you don’t bring in spirits or cigarettes, you can have either 36 litres of wine or 110 litres of beer instead.
But Customs say that last year there were 625 infractions where people were bringing in over that limit, and they say that they are launching a three-month crackdown.
Customs and Immigration Service director Steven Le Marquand said: “We have evidence that passengers continue to import tobacco/cigarettes in excess of the duty free allowances on a regular basis.
“These extra resources will ensure that such importations continue to receive the appropriate level of coverage without impacting on the priority to maintain the immigration controls and investigate the importation of controlled drugs into the Island."
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