Customs officers yesterday seized more than three million contraband cigarettes worth an estimated €1.2 million in Co Carlow.
The cigarettes arrived in Dublin from China on Friday in a 40-foot container supposedly carrying toys.
Customs officers, backed by members of the gardaí, kept the container under surveillance and when the cigarettes were being offloaded they moved in.
Three people from the Carlow area have been arrested in connection with the seizure and are being held at Carlow Garda station.