Illegal cigarette factory making hundreds of thousands of fake 'Marlboros' busted by Revenue

Revenue officers have shut down an illicit commercial cigarette factory discovered at a premises in Dublin. 

The discovery was made on Friday (February 23) as part of an intelligence-led operation with the assistance of An Garda Síochána and detector dog, Milo. 

Revenue officers reportedly found more than 1.4 tonnes of raw tobacco at the under warrant premises, all precursor components for the manufacture of cigarettes, and approximately 758,000 illicit cigarettes branded 'Marlboro', which were ready for distribution. 

The retail value of the seized cigarettes is over €630,000, with a potential loss to the Exchequer of almost €500,000. 

The equipment at the production plant is believed to have had the capacity to produce more than 250,000 cigarettes per hour, along with pre-processing and packaging facilities. 

Investigations are ongoing nationally and internationally.