The haul, which was worth about £16,000, was taken from a group of golfers who were returning from a trip to the Canary Islands on Tuesday.

As well as the cigarettes, the 12 men, from Weymouth, also had a quantity of hand-rolling tobacco, which was also confiscated.

The men were later released, pending further enquiries.

Duty free regulations apply to Tenerife

Customs officials at the airport said it is the largest amount of contraband they have seized for some time.

Customs spokesman Bob Gaiger said: "Customs are well aware of the risk of people going out to the Canary Islands to buy cigarettes.

"Certainly for cigarettes out there you can pay as little as £8 or £9 for 200.

"So it's always worth having a look at a returning flight from, say, Tenerife, and the chances are that we'll come across smugglers.

"But I have to say that we haven't found this amount of cigarettes from a flight from there for quite a while.

"Travellers to the Canary Islands should realise that normal duty free allowances apply from there.

"An individual can only bring home 200 cigarettes free of duty."