Overview: Criminal gangs are involved in everything from people-smuggling to drug-trafficking to money-laundering, writes Conor Lally
Gardaí view 1996 as a period of sea change on the criminal justice landscape. It was during that year that Det Garda Jerry McCabe and crime journalist Veronica Guerin were murdered.
The months following their deaths saw the formation of the Criminal Assets Bureau and the introduction of anti-money laundering legislation.
When the bureau was formed, it drew up a list of 12 organised criminal gangs it planned to target. The latest Garda intelligence has identified 125 gangs controlling for-profit crime in the Republic. Of these, 17 are described as highly organised.
They traffic drugs and people as well as distribute counterfeit goods, contraband oil and cigarettes. They are also engaged in bank robberies, money-laundering and stealing expensive cars to order.
Approximately 10 highly organised white-collar gangs have been identified by gardaí in Leinster and Munster in recent years.
Despite the media attention given to drug-dealers, it is the white-collar criminals who have earned the most money in the last five years. Hundreds of millions of euros have been generated in a complex VAT fraud involving phantom goods being sold between Ireland and the UK.
The CAB defines organised crime as "any enterprise or group of persons engaged in continuing illegal activities, which has as its primary purpose the generation of profits irrespective of national boundaries".
There are now established Irish groups living in Spain, the Netherlands and the UK controlling the flow of drugs into Ireland. A new generation of home-grown gangs is also beginning to emerge, vying for control of the domestic drugs trade. The result has been 17 gangland murders so far this year. Feuds in Limerick and west Dublin have been responsible for at least eight of those murders.
Most of the 17 organised gangs operate from the eastern seaboard and the Border area. Invariably one or two "barons" control them, with anything up to 10 "lieutenants" working under them.
They have informal rules in place. Anybody suspected of informing, "creaming off the top" or even "loose talk" can expect to be shot.
All of the 17 gangs are involved in the drugs business. They import heroin, cocaine, ecstasy and cannabis in huge quantities and use extensive nationwide distribution networks to sell on the merchandise.
Several Irish gangs buy cars in Britain, where some of their members are based. These are taken into continental Europe via the Channel Tunnel or on car ferries. The doors of the cars are packed with drugs in either the Netherlands or Spain. They are then driven back into Dublin port. Drugs are also transported in trucks moving through the ports.
Those who operate from overseas have trusted associates in Ireland who take care of distributing the drugs once they reach Irish shores.
The Irish-based criminals are paid a set fee for their services and the rest of the profits are sent back to the barons overseas, usually in holdall bags via Dublin airport.
Figures for drugs seizures in the first six months of the year suggest the drugs industry is booming.More than €67 million has been seized, much greater than the €49 million seized in the whole of last year. This compares with €45 million seized in 2001 and €20 million in 2000.
Apart from the drugs industry, counterfeiting in the Republic is described by gardaí as "a massive industry" worth as much as €750 million.
In June, a warehouse at Dromad, Co Louth, was raided by gardaí from Dundalk and the Garda anti-racketeering unit. They found one of the biggest hauls of counterfeit clothing seized in recent years. The €1.2 million haul consisted of high quality Manchester United, Liverpool, Celtic and Rangers football jerseys, all believed to have been sourced in Turkey.
Traditionally the Border area has also been a hive of activity for contraband fuel. Nine laundries have been detected so far this year compared with eight in 2002 and nine in 2001.
A number of highly organised gangs in the Border area have developed links with European outfits and now form part of a complex trans-national people-trafficking network.
A significant number of women are trafficked here for prostitution purposes. A Dublin-based Croatian national has been identified by gardaí as the main player in prostitution-linked trafficking into the Republic.
The Border-based gangs also have links to a 10-man gang based in Dublin's inner city. They move massive shipments of duty-free cigarettes into the State through Dublin port.
The remaining 108 gangs are best described as "groupings". They are dispersed throughout the country but are mostly concentrated in the greater Dublin area. Most operate on an informal footing. Unlike more organised set-ups, membership of these gangs constantly changes.
However, in rural communities even very small gangs can cause major disruption. In Tipperary town, for example, one family has been responsible for much of the crime there in recent years.
They are engaged in burglaries and stealing cars to order. The keys to a vehicle are often taken during a house break-in.
In the Sligo region just four individuals are responsible for the sale of drugs in the area.
With automatic weapons flowing into Dublin gangland from eastern Europe, many gardaí fear it is only a matter of time before the same happens in the regions and gangland murder becomes a national issue.