June 10, 2025 - On 20 May 2025 and over the following days, Irish customs authorities seized over 4,000 electric bikes and a number of e-scooters worth €4,5 million illegally imported into the European Union during targeted searches at two warehouses. The operation followed coordinated efforts by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) to identify and disrupt fraudulent import schemes involving e-commerce warehouses across the EU.
The seizures form part of a wider action led by OLAF and supported by multiple EU Member States, targeting the unlawful import and sale of electric bikes and scooters. OLAF provided national authorities with evidence of fraud techniques used to avoid import duties, anti-dumping and countervailing duties, and VAT. Countervailing duties are a specific form of duty that the governments impose in order to protect domestic producers by countering the negative impact of import subsidies.
Methods observed by OLAF include false declarations of goods, unauthorised removal from customs transit procedures, and fabricated claims that goods had left the EU. Once inside the EU, the products were delivered to e-commerce warehouses and sold to consumers without proper VAT payments, giving the perpetrators an unfair competitive advantage.
OLAF plays a key role in disrupting these complex fraud networks. Thanks to the coordinated approach, Irish customs authorities were able to carry out their successful action. In this case, the estimated loss in unpaid import duties alone is €2.3 million.
OLAF Director-General Ville Itälä said: “This case highlights the value of close cooperation between OLAF and Member State authorities in protecting the EU’s financial interests, ensuring fair competition, and safeguarding the integrity of the single market. By working closely with Member States, OLAF helps ensure that those who try to exploit EU rules are identified and stopped. Together, we are making it clear that such abuse will not go unchecked.”
For more details, see the press release of the Irish Customs Authorities here.
