MANILA, Philippines?About 120 million cigarettes onboard a ship which left the Philippines last month were seized in Ireland?believed to be the largest haul of contraband in the history of Europe, the news website irishtimes.com said.

Ursula O?Neill, assistant principal Customs investigator, stressed the significance of the seizure. ?This would have represented a significant investment for the criminal group behind this?they would have had to charter the vessel as well as pay for the cargo,? she said in the report of the news website.

Citing revenue commissioners, the report said the cigarettes would have been sold for about ?50 million and represented a loss of about ?40 million to the state in taxes and excise duties.

?These were obviously destined for the Christmas market and if they had not been seized, there would have been a loss of legitimate income to the State,? a spokesperson for Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern said.

Nine men were arrested in the multi-agency operation led by Irish Customs and Revenue officers. Among those arrested were the ship?s captain and first mate, a Ukrainian and a Lithuanian. The rest are Irish, aged between 19 and mid-50s.

The MV Anne Scan, which is a German-owned general cargo vessel chartered from the Philippines, was supposed to be carrying animal feed. ?About the top quarter of each of the one-ton bags of feed was genuine; the rest contained packets of two brands of cigarettes including Palace, which are normally sold in Britain,? the report said.

(1 Euro = 69.97 Philippine pesos)