As I recall, back then, illegal cigarettes were difficult to find in regular stores. You had to know someone, who knew someone, for example; and transactions couldn’t be in the open, at the counter.
More often, what happened was that the illegal smokes were loaded into a van that would make the rounds of neighbourhood pubs and bars on weekend nights. One of the van guys would walk in, let somebody know, word would spread among the bar’s patrons, and soon there would be a crowd around the van. Selection was always iffy (“You guys got any Player’s Extra Lights?” “No, but we’ve got Player’s Lights” ), but the prices were fantastic–as I recall, for a carton that cost $50 retail, they’d charge $25.
I saw it happen many times, as my local watering hole was on the van guys’ route. They didn’t seem to target nightclubs or terribly busy places or places on major routes where a crowd would attract attention. Just little neighbourhood pubs in quiet suburban plazas, likely to be occupied by people who would appreciate cheap smokes; places like that.
First of all, you should understand that the tax on diesel fuel is considerable (currently 60p+ per litre).
If you own a farm you can buy red (untaxed) diesel in bulk. You install some large tanks and spread your purchases around different suppliers so no one notices (would they care anyway) that you are using five times as much as similar farms.
You set up the machinery to extract the dye from the diesel using an acid or alkali which renders the dye colourless, or by stripping the dye from the diesel using activated carbon.
You can then sell the diesel retail to taxi drivers and other locals, or wholesale to compliant garages. The profits are high and the risk low, as are the penalties.
I seem to recall my brother bought them at some sketchy convenience stores in the Chinatown area around Spadina. It was one of those, “If you know, you know…” kind of arrangements. I’m not sure how he ended up in the know, since he is otherwise a pretty square kind of guy.
But that just emphasizes how many people are willing to try to get one over on the tax guys. It’s not just career criminal types.
So where does the IRA come in? Are they just leaning on farmers to get a cut of the sales? I had it in mind that that they were top of the food chain, where most of the money is.
This is more what I was thinking of, a way to move large amounts of fuel at one time rather than doing a bunch of individual sales. It would lessen exposure for the IRA and free them up from doing the donkey work.
In the US, each gas station has all it’s fuel tested once a year but it’s mainly to see that your dispensers are delivering the correct amount of fuel. I don’t think they would have the means to check for altered fuel. Governments being governments, I assume you have something similar. Are penalties typically fines rather than jail time?
Embarrassingly, it took me a couple of reads but was this supposed to be rig fuel? I imagine that’s pretty easily done since rigs are usually unmanned.
That’s similar to NY. I don’t even smoke but I’ve been told many times over the years of various places to buy tax free smokes. It seems to be more of an open secret than an actual secret.
That, or the farmers themselves are sympathetic to the IRA, and are helping raise money for “the cause”, while making a few bucks on the side for themselves.
That makes sense. I wonder what kind of paperwork is needed there. In the US the paperwork to get a tanker of fuel has multiple copies that have to go to state and federal government.
Yes, my autocorrect is annoying. Rigs are rarely unmanned you may be thinking of pumping units which are mostly unmanned but drilling rigs are typically operated 24/7 so finding one of the occasional unmanned times makes it ripe for being ripped off. Work over rigs are unmanned more often (12-16 hours per day) but they also have less fuel and under better security.
Laundering of marked diesel in Ireland involves literally “cleaning” the fuel to remove the red (in NI) or green (in ROI) dye. The resulting fuel contains contaminants such as sulphuric acid and caustic soda which can cause expensive damage to modern engines. There is also considerable potential for environmental harm as hazardous residues from the cleaning process are improperly disposed of.
The operation is carried out by organised criminals. Their republican affiliation is a bit of a red herring - it is not that the laundering of diesel is done to further the republican cause, just that nominally republican groups (not necessarily PIRA) often control and direct organised crime in the border areas.
The operation is done at large scale and the resulting product is sold in filling stations, often to unsuspecting buyers. Hypothetically, if a certain individual had property straddling the border between County Louth and County Armagh, it would facilitate this kind of operation and make law enforcement more complicated.
Revenue checkpoints with random vehicle checks (“dipping the tank”) do take place, but I’ve never encountered one. These are not aimed at detecting laundered fuel, but rather use of marked fuel by individuals. I would expect such checkpoints by revenue to be more common in rural areas.
At events that attract farmers in England, it is common to see an HMRC team going around dipping the tanks of the 4WDs towing horseboxes and any other likely looking vehicles.
They sometimes operate at motorway service stations as well. The penalty for getting caught can be severe as they have the right to impound the vehicle.