Irish Customs Authorities have announced the seizure of over 4,000 e-bikes, a handful of e-scooters, and bike parts and accessories estimated to be worth €4.5 million, which were illegally imported into the European Union, following targeted searches at two different warehouses.
A spokesperson for Irish Customs said: “As part of an ongoing investigation, Revenue officers searched, under warrant, two warehouses at separate locations in the Wexford area, discovering a significant number of e-bikes and a small number of e-scooters.”
The Irish operation is part of a larger international crackdown supported by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), which has cooperated with multiple EU member states to target the unlawful import and sale of e-bikes.
While OLAF has not been able to confirm the origin of the seized bikes, citing judicial secrecy, it noted that these actions are part of an “international smuggling operation” spanning the EU, reports Bike Europe.
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.”
According to OLAF, the seized e-mobility vehicles would otherwise have been sold to consumers without proper VAT payments, undercutting legitimate sellers. The unpaid import duties linked to the smuggling operation are estimated at €2.8 million.
The Irish Customs operation comes amid a broader EU effort to tackle customs fraud in the e-bike sector. Just last month, Bike Europe reported that the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Portugal had launched a major investigation — codenamed ‘Pedelecs’ — involving disassembled Chinese-made e-bikes shipped separately to avoid anti-dumping duties.
In that case, 16 searches were conducted across Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and Portugal, uncovering an estimated €2.25 million in unpaid duties. EPPO investigators said the e-bikes were designed in China, then assembled in Portugal before being sold back to European resellers.
Annick Roetynck, managing director of the trade group LEVA-EU, commented in response to the ‘Pedelecs’ probe: “The remaining imports of e-bikes from China predominantly consist of extremely low-cost products. This provides strong grounds to call for significantly enhanced market surveillance.
“We are convinced that the measures implemented now inadvertently facilitate the entry of extremely low-cost electric bicycles that cannot realistically comply with EU technical regulations.”
The Irish seizure also comes against a backdrop of heightened enforcement against illegal e-bike use. Last week, road.cc reported that Suffolk Police, alongside Leicestershire Police and others, have been seizing “the most illegal” e-bikes — some with 1,000w motors — and educating riders on the legal 250w power and 15.5mph speed limits of EAPCs (electrically assisted pedal cycles).
“If an electric bike does not meet the standards, then they are technically classed as motorcycles,” PC Matthew Dilks explained. “They therefore need to be insured and registered, and the rider needs to wear a crash helmet.”
Another large-scale customs fraud investigation is still ongoing in the Netherlands, with the EPPO in Rotterdam probing a case of e-bikes imported from China via Poland, with an estimated €1.8 million in unpaid duties.
In that investigation, the Dutch Fiscal Information and Investigation Service (FIOD) carried out searches in North Brabant. The suspects, who denied wrongdoing, allegedly smuggled at least 25 containers of e-bikes using false customs declarations. Industry group LEVA-EU has argued that Poland remains a weak spot in EU border control for bicycle products.
Meanwhile, public concerns about illegal e-bikes in the UK have also risen in recent months. The BBC aired a controversial, Adrian Chiles-fronted Panorama episode on e-bikes in January, resulting in widespread backlash, with e-bike shops branding the programme “troubling” and “misleading”, with the potential to “unfairly influence public opinion and undermine the efforts of responsible retailers who prioritise safety, respectful riding, and adherence to the law”.
Two months later, a Sheffield resident sent a letter to the MP saying that she feared “someone will be killed by a bike, often going at high speeds on the pavement”, arguing that cycle routes “painted on our pavements” in shared-use areas only compound the risks when fast, illegally modified e-bikes mix with pedestrian traffic.
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Responding to Carr’s concerns, Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough MP Furniss said: “I have been in contact with the police and council to raise these matters. I will continue to liaise with these agencies to press for safety for pedestrians on our pavements.”
According to South Yorkshire Police, officers in Sheffield city centre seized “at least” 50 e-bikes and five illegal scooters during an operation in December designed to clamp down on the “potentially dangerous machines”.
“Electric bikes being ridden illegally or dangerously can cause serious injury to both the rider and pedestrians. If you are stopped on what we believe to be an illegal e-bike, we will explain and encourage you to follow the law,” a South Yorkshire Police spokesperson said.
2 thoughts on “Irish Customs seize 4,000 e-bikes in suspected international smuggling operation worth €4.5 million”
Judging by the pics, are they
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None of the pics are of the
None of the pics are of the Irish haul. They are London, Scotland, Cardiff respectively, just as filler.