More than a quarter of the cigarettes smoked in Ireland last year were illegal, it has been claimed.

Three out of 10 packets of cigarettes are suspected to be illegal, according to a survey published by the tobacco industry.

CUSTOMS officers have disrupted an illegal tobacco distribution network following a significant seizure in Cork – the value of which was revised upwards last night.

THE largest seizure of contraband cigarettes in the history of the state was made in Greenore, Co Louth, yesterday on a ship carrying up to 120 million cigarettes, enough to flood the Irish market.