Published Wednesday, 28 October 2009
Six other Irishmen held after armed police intercepted a ship carrying the €50m contraband as it entered Greenore Port in Co Louth were freed earlier on Wednesday.
The nine men, including two men from Co Armagh, were arrested over Europe's largest ever seizure of smuggled cigarettes on Tuesday.
A Garda spokesman said files were being prepared on each of the released men for the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The three released on Wednesday evening included an Irishman, from Co Louth as well as the ship's captain and his first officer, a Ukrainian in his 40s and a Lithuanian in his 50s.
One Garda source said while inquiries would look at possible dissident republican involvement, there were no firm links yet established.
"It's definitely organised criminals, but how much involvement, if any, that republicans have remains to be seen," said the source.
An estimated 1,489 bags, each stuffed with 80,000 Palace and Chelsea brand cigarettes, were hidden under animal feed onboard the German-owned MV Anne Scan cargo vessel.
The Irish Navy tracked the 80-metre ship as it approached Irish waters from the Mediterranean, having left the Philippines last month.
After it docked at Greenore Port, close to the Irish border, police and customs officials from the Republic and Northern Ireland moved in as the illegal cargo was offloaded and trucked to a warehouse in Dundalk.
The impounded vessel was later taken to Dublin port where the cigarettes were being removed to a secret customs warehouse for storage until prosecutions are brought. After that they will be destroyed.
More than 150 officers from the various Irish and UK agencies were involved in the operation.
Customs officials said unloading and counting the cigarettes could take as long as two days.
Irish Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said the contraband could have dealt a serious blow to tax revenues, at a time when the Republic is struggling to balance its public finances.