Gardaí and Revenue and Customs officials have confirmed that 8.3 million smuggled cigarettes have been seized during a search operation at Dublin Port on Wednesday.
In an announcement Customs officials confirmed that the large haul arrived in Dublin from Rotterdam.
It is understood the cigarettes which were hidden inside a container labelled as car parts were worth an estimated €4.5m.
The cigarettes which were branded as RGD Magnum and Mark 1, would have cost an estimated €3.6m loss to the exchequer if they had been sold.
Gardai say investigations are currently ongoing.