Customs officers at Dublin Port have seized contraband cigarettes with an estimated street value of €3.1 million.
The nine million "Raquel" brand cigarettes were hidden in a 45-foot container that arrived from Belgium.
The contents of the container were described as household goods and were consigned to a fictitious company in Co Monaghan. The cigarettes were found following an X-ray scan.
Revenue said that the potential loss to the exchequer was approximately €2.5 million.