Revenue seized more than 1,000 kilos of drugs, dozens of dangerous weapons, and thousands of cigarettes that were sent through the post last year.
Smugglers stashed items inside board games, children's toys, stitched into clothing and concealed inside foodstuffs.
A record of seizures at the Dublin Mail Centre over the past 12 months details tens of thousands of items seized.
This included 144 weapons and three pieces of ammunition, according to records provided by the Revenue Commissioners.
There were 1,100 kilograms of drugs seized along with 260 grams of fake or illegal medicinal products.
More than 42 kilos of tobacco were sniffed out along with tens of thousands of untaxed or fake cigarettes.
A small quantity of beer - 39.5 litres in total - was stopped in the post along with 220 litres of wine.
There were another 29 litres of spirits detected and around a kilogram of what was described as "fiscal other" in Revenue records.
Nearly 14,000 counterfeit items, which were in breach of intellectual property rights, were also seized at the Mail Centre.
The Revenue Commissioners said the most commonly seized items were drugs and cigarettes.
They said concealment techniques were becoming "increasingly inventive" with smuggled items stashed away inside everyday items.
Revenue said a large number of counterfeit items were seized not just because of breaches of intellectual property laws but because of their risk to consumers.
They said many fake items such as electronics, medicines, cosmetics, and toys did not meet safety standards and posed serious health and safety risks.
A spokeswoman said they used a "risk-based approach" evaluating all points of entry into the state on an ongoing basis.
"Revenue uses the latest detection methods in its work and has a range of assets, such as mobile x-ray scanners, drug detector dogs and 24/7 staff available to deploy where required," she added.
Reporting by Ken Foxe
