THE international sting operation which netted 120 million illegal cigarettes this week as they were being smuggled onto Irish shores was the biggest seizure of its kind in the history of the European Union.

Detectives were given more time today to question three men over Europe’s largest ever seizure of smuggled cigarettes.

A ship’s captain was tonight among nine men being quizzed by detectives after customs officials seized Europe’s largest ever haul of smuggled cigarettes.

Nine men were arrested today as part of a customs swoop in Co Louth believed to have netted the largest ever number of illicit cigarettes seized in the UK and Ireland.

CIGARETTE smuggling is becoming a very serious problem in Ireland because a combination of the highest price in the European Union and the economic downturn is making it very attractive to smugglers.

Europe’s governments were challenged today to get a grip on EU spending after another mixed report from the EU’s accounts watchdog.

ALL MEPs have until the end of May to make a full disclosure of the allowances they claimed to pay assistants after suspicions of fraud.

A MAGISTRATES court in Créteil in France has imposed suspended prison sentences on the managers of a dairy company found guilty of selling products manufactured using adulterated butter.