REVENUE OFFICIALS HAVE seized around 700,000 cigarettes during three separate operations carried out by customs officers at Dublin Airport this week.

The cigarettes had an estimated retail value of €316,275 and represented a potential loss to the Exchequer of €243,463.

The single biggest of the three operations happened on Tuesday when officers at Dublin Airport searched a freight, which had been described as containing car parts, which had arrived from Greece.

The consignment had been kept under surveillance upon arrival and was intercepted in Bray. Customs officers seized 606,000 cigarettes with a value of €275,000.

A 43-year-old Romanian national was questioned and later released. A file is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The second operation happened on Wednesday when Revenue officers targeted a flight from Krakow and seized 70,000 cigarettes with a retail value of €31,675 and a potential loss to the Exchequer of €25,000.

Eight people – four men and four women, aged between 16 and 34 – were questioned and later released in connection with the seizure.

The final operation happened yesterday when Revenue officers intercepted a 21-year-old Lithuanian woman who had arrived from Moscow. She was arrested in relation to the attempted smuggling of cigarettes on two previous dates earlier this year.

Officers discovered 9,200 cigarettes in her baggage after a search and the woman was arrested and charged. She was remanded in custody to appear again on 5 July.