A DAWN raid has led to 2.6 million smuggled cigarettes being seized by Customs and Excise officers, it was revealed last night.
The cigarettes, worth more than £450,000, were discovered at industrial premises in Newton Aycliffe.
Twenty officers swooped on the building after tracking the goods from a south coast port on Monday.
They found four large packing cases containing Crown brand cigarettes, which had arrived from Cambodia. One man was arrested after the raid, but was later released on bail.
Customs spokesman Rob Hastings-Trew said: "The organised gangs who smuggle cigarettes are responsible for honest shopkeepers in the North-East losing a significant amount of trade."
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