Revenue officers have seized more than 18,000 illegal cigarettes with an estimated retail value of over €9,400 in Limerick and Dublin.
The cigarettes, which originated from Bulgaria and Ukraine, were first detected in the Athlone and Portlaoise mail centres.
In the first of two follow-up operations yesterday, tax officials acting under court warrant searched a house together with detector dog Harvey in the Newcastle West area of Limerick.
They interviewed a Lithuanian man at the scene and took away 8,880 NZ Gold-branded cigarettes.
In the second operation, Revenue officers also acting under court warrant seized 10,000 Malboro and Karelia cigarettes during a search of a house in Dublin. A Bulgarian man was interviewed in the property.
The cigarettes represented a combined potential loss to the exchequer of over €7,800 in taxes, according to Revenue.
Investigations are continuing in both cases, with a view to prosecution.
