Arrested Irishmen freed on bail

The men are alleged to have been smuggling cigarettes

Two men alleged to be members of the Real IRA who were arrested in Spain have been released on bail.

The men, one from Northern Ireland and the other from the Republic, were detained in Malaga at the weekend on suspicion of smuggling.

Thomas Philip Corley, 32, from Dublin and 41-year-old Aaron William Jordan from Lisburn were arrested after police seized half a million cigarettes.

It had been alleged that the men were raising funds for the organisation.

The Spanish Interior Ministry said the men were being held on suspicion of attempting to smuggle the cigarettes from Spain to Britain.

The men were detained after two lorries were seized on an industrial estate.

A major shipment of cigarettes had just arrived at a nearby port.

Police said a large quantity of documents were also found in the warehouse.

The Real IRA is an outlawed dissident republican organisation which was behind the 1998 Omagh bombing in which 29 people died.