Almost 30,000 counterfeit and smuggled cigarettes have been seized in early morning raids in Belfast.
Officers from HM Revenue & Customs, supported by police, hit eight retail premises in the north of the city on Thursday in an operation targeting the sale of illicit cigarettes.
As well as the cigarette seizure business records were taken away.
Officers used new hand-held scanning equipment to quickly identify counterfeit or non UK-duty paid tobacco products.
The scanner detects covert security markings on packaging which are invisible to the eye and which give an instant indication of counterfeit or smuggled tobacco.
The seizure came the day after a major smuggling operation was cracked and £5m worth of illicit cigarettes uncovered in Belfast docks.
Over eight million Regal King Size cigarettes were found by UK Border Agency officers hidden behind boxes in a cargo just arrived in the post.
On Tuesday three people were arrested, two in Northern Ireland and another in Cambridgeshire, as part of a 18-month long investigation into an international cigarette fraud.
Speaking after the north Belfast raids Brian Dixon of HMRC special investigations said: "The gangs behind this form of criminality are motivated solely by greed and personal gain. Their lavish lifestyles cost the taxpayer around £3bn per year in unpaid duty."
Mr Dixon urged anyone who knew someone selling cheap or duty free cigarettes and tobacco to contact their hotline on 0800 59 5000.
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