Customs officers seize €3.8m worth of illegal cigarettes

Customs officers have seized nine million cigarettes worth almost €4m at Dublin Port.

They were found when a container and its contents - described as disposable cups - was intercepted and examined.

The seizure is part of Revenue's ongoing operations targeting the supply and sale of illegal cigarettes.

The cigarettes have a potential retail value of €3.8m and a potential loss to the exchequer of €3m.

The container was on a ship from China delivering cargo to Ireland.

Customs officers using so-called profiling techniques decided to search the contents of the container when the ship docked this morning.

The illegally-imported cigarettes were branded Benson and Hedges, according to a Customs spokeswoman.

No one has been arrested.