THREE MEN HAVE been arrested and cigarettes worth £3 million were seized after a joint-agency task force operation in Armagh yesterday morning.

The men – aged 34, 37 and 55 – were arrested by HM Revenue and Customs officers and seized eight million cigarettes worth an estimated £3 million (€3.3 million) in lost revenue.

Gardaí and Revenue assisted the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and HM Revenue & Customs during the operation. 

Gardaí assisted by Revenue carried out seven searched on one business property and six residential properties in Carlingford, Co Louth yesterday.

As part of this, a number of items were seized including 

• Around €100,000 in cash 
• 2.5 tonnes of raw tobacco worth €1.55 million
• Over 1,900 kg of hand-rolling tobacco valued at €1.2 million
• Equipment used for the manufacture of tobacco products
• One articulated lorry, one rigid lorry, two trailers and one van
• Mobile fuel-laundering machinery (inside the articulated lorry) 

Investigations into the incidents are ongoing.

The Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan said these seizures represent “a significant success for law enforcement on both sides of the border”. 

“We are seeing unprecedented levels of cooperation between law enforcement agencies North and South, in tackling cross-border crime of all types including organised burglary, drug crime, rural and farm crimes as well as smuggling,” Flanagan said in a statement.