Customs officials say that up to eight organised criminal gangs are now involved in multi million euro smuggling rackets in the run up to Christmas.
Large quantities of cigarettes, alcohol, and fake designer goods have been seized in the last few weeks at airports and ports.
Already this year 128m cigarettes have been seized by Customs officials with a retail value of almost €50m.
Today, another substantial seizure was made when 8.7m cigarettes, which had been smuggled in from China, were uncovered.
The cigarettes were named John Player Blue but are counterfeit - another type of cigarette being passed off as the brand.
The cigarettes were hidden in a container behind what is known as a coverload, a legitimate cargo of toys in this case.
Customs Official Ursula O'Neill told RTÉ News that smugglers are trying to think of new ways to deceive the exchequer.
‘On one recent seizure of counterfeit cigarettes being passed off as John Player Blue, a fake Irish stamp had been affixed to each box.
‘However Irish authorities were able to quickly tell the stamps were fake, although the consumer might not be able to tell the difference.’
Customs officials have also recently seized fake handbags, runners and designer clothes.
