Contraband cigarettes to be unloaded

Revenue officials and gardaí in Dublin will this morning begin unloading the cargo of 120m cigarettes discovered on a ship in Co Louth yesterday. A search operation at a warehouse near Dundalk linked to the smuggling attempt continued into the early hours of this morning.
Nine men remain in custody following the huge surveillance operation by law enforcement agencies in several countries.
The MV Anne Scan left Greenore Port and headed into the Irish Sea shortly after 9pm last night, accompanied by vessels from the Irish Navy and Revenue service.
The ship with nearly 1,500 one tonne bags arrived off Dublin Port early this morning and it is expected the unloading of the cargo will take most of the day.
It is estimated that each of the bags contains around 8,000 cigarettes of various brands hidden under animal feed.
That makes a total cargo of around 120m cigarettes, the largest ever find of its type in Europe.
The cigarettes, which were loaded in the Philippines, were destined for markets in the Republic, Northern Ireland and the UK and could have resulted in a loss of revenue to the governments of at least €40m.
A search of premises near the village of Knockbridge just outside Dundalk continued for much of last night.
It was there that seven men were arrested - two from Northern Ireland and the rest from the Republic. The captain and first officer of the ship are also still being questioned.
Although there maybe links between some individuals and dissident republicans, it seems the main focus of the investigation so far is on a large scale, well-funded cross-border criminal gang.