Finance ministry investigators have seized 12.5 million illegal cigarettes in three separate criminal investigations over the past two weeks. Had all 12.5 million cigarettes reached the market, the Dutch state would have missed out on an estimated €4.2 million in excise duty, the Fiod said.

The tobacco was found during operations by a specialist team made up of finance ministry and customs officials at several locations across the Netherlands.

The first haul, more than 3.5 million cigarettes, was confiscated on 28 January in Rotterdam. The shipment was hidden in a container filled with plastic crates, with cartons of cigarettes concealed between them.

The container was found following a tip-off and the Netherlands was not the final destination, officials said.

Just over a week later, another consignment was intercepted on the motorway near Nieuw-Amsterdam in Drenthe. The cigarettes were traced after a customs check in the port of Rotterdam.

They were packed in wooden crates labelled as saunas. The crates did contain sauna components, but cartons of cigarettes had been hidden inside the wooden frames. Around 6.5 million cigarettes were seized in that operation.

Five days later, a further batch of illegal tobacco was discovered in a business premises in Vlijmen, Brabant. A follow-up raid led to the seizure of more cigarettes in a warehouse in Den Bosch.

In total, more than 2.5 million cigarettes were found in the Brabant operations, which the Fiod said were intended for illegal sale in the Netherlands.

One suspect has been arrested in connection with the seizures in Drenthe and Brabant. The Fiod has not ruled out further arrests.