Customs officers have seized 3 million illicit cigarettes, and arrested four men and a woman aged 34 to 55.

The two-week crackdown targeted five illicit cigarette storage points. The seized goods have a total market value of $7.5 million and a duty potential of $5.1 million. 

Two cross-boundary vehicles were also seized, one of which used fake water heaters to conceal the cigarettes.