Customs officials have seized 900,000 smuggled cigarettes at Dublin Port with the help of detector dog Casey.
The Mayfair cigarettes were discovered earlier today in five pallets consigned as "catering equipment", following routine profiling.
They had arrived into Ireland from the Netherlands, and investigations are ongoing with a view to prosecution.
Photo: Revenue
In separate warranted searches on Sunday morning, Revenue officers seized a car and 7,000 NZ-branded cigarettes in two houses in Castletownbere, west Cork.
Two Lithuanian men in their 40s were questioned and a prosecution file is being prepared. Detective dog Harvey assisted in both operations.
It came after 22,000 cigarettes were seized in Dublin Airport last Wednesday when officers stopped and searched two men who had arrived on a flight from Istanbul.
The 48-year-old Bulgarian and 37-year-old Moldovan were arrested at the scene and appeared before Judge Halpin in the District Court.
Both were remanded in custody to Cloverhill prison and will appear in court again tomorrow.
The total value of the seized cigarettes is estimated to be €511,000, representing a potential loss to the exchequer of €412,000.
