OVER HALF A million cigarettes as well as spirits, beer, cash and three vehicles were all seized by gardaí and revenue officials in multi-county searches today.
The raids were carried out across Donegal, Mayo, Roscommon and Kildare with the retail value of the cigarettes alone placed at €238,000.
The operation involved searches of both residential and commercial premises with a number of people now being questioned by gardaí.
Revenue say the haul includes 745 litres of spirits, 185 litres of beer, three vehicles and €29,810 in cash.
In total, 23 different varieties of vodka and whiskey were included found with the alcohol being valued at €27,500.
The 524,500 cigarettes taken by the authorities include a number of brands such as ‘Marlboro Red’, ‘West’, ‘L&M’ and ‘WZ Gold’.
Customs officials say the operation was pre-planned and was the result of, “months of painstaking investigations and co-operation between Revenue and An Garda Síochána.”
Revenue’s Customs Service estimates that the potential loss to the exchequer of the haul would be €222,650 had they displaced legal sales.
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