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.

A campaign to detect the use of illegal fuel has been intensified, the Revenue Commissioners warned today.

NEW security measures have been put in place to combat increasingly sophisticated criminal gangs involved in cigarette smuggling.

THE decision of the State ethics watchdog not to investigate Martin Cullen's appointment of Monica Leech as a PR consultant has prompted calls for additional powers to be granted to the body.

SIX firms of private solicitors are expected to recover close to €400 million in unpaid taxes for the Revenue Commissioners as a result of contracts signed yesterday.

Today will see the formal end of the contractual association between Monica Leech and the Department of the Environment, but the saga it generated has still to run its course.

The question of whether or not the Standards in Public Office Commission fully investigates the circumstances surrounding the awarding of contracts by Transport Minister Martin Cullen, will have to await another day and further legal advice.

A European customs conference in Dublin has raised the issue of security in Irish ports and airports.

CUSTOMS officers at all ports and airports are to be involved in a crackdown on imported foodstuffs that could pose a risk to our health.

The Government has gone down under to devise its latest strategy for curbing illegal drugs imports.

Tax dodging offshore account holders have paid Ir£176m, the Revenue Commissioners have revealed.