Smugglers dump 300,000 cigarettes

Smuggled cigarettes seized by Customs earlier this year

Smugglers have dumped more than 300,000 cigarettes and nine kilogrammes of tobacco at Belfast International Airport.

A Customs & Excise spokesman said the smuggling gang arrived on a flight from Tenerife on Friday night.

They emptied several suitcases around the baggage reclaim area after noticing that customs officers were questioning passengers. No-one was arrested.

The latest incident comes weeks after it was announced that smuggled cigarettes with an estimated value of £44m had been seized already this year.

This is twice as many as last year, according to Customs & Excise officials.

Cross-border fuel smuggling is an ongoing problem

Since January, customs officials have also discovered ten illegal plants capable of producing 27 million litres of fuel.