Three tonnes of tobacco worth €1.2m seized in Co Louth

Three tonnes of tobacco worth an estimated €1.2 million has been seized from an illegal tobacco factory in Dundalk.

The tobacco was discovered at a private home in Proleek, Ravensdale after a joint intelligence operation between Revenue's customs service and An Garda Síochána.

It is estimated that the contraband could have cost the exchequer about €1 million in lost taxes.

Revenue officials have said the house was operating as a "large scale cottage-type industry for preparing and packaging illegal roll-your-own tobacco".

It is the first such facility discovered in the State.

A total of 8,720 L&M and Excellence brand cigarettes were seized, as well as counterfeit Amber Leaf and Flandia brand pouches of tobacco, and Dutch tax stamps.

Two non-Irish nationals were questioned but no arrests have been made.

In a separate operation, Gardaí in Co Kerry have arrested a man in his 20s after 2kg of cannabis herb was discovered in Killarney this afternoon.

The drugs, worth an estimated €46,000, were seized after gardaí from the Garda National Drugs Unit and officers from Revenue’s Drugs Unit, supported by local gardaí, searched a car at a car park in the town at about 3.30pm.

The man is being detained at Tralee Garda station under Section 2 Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act, 1996.