Cross-Border cattle fraud uncovered

A major cross-Border fraud involving substituting inferior cows from the Republic for quality animals due for slaughter in Northern…

A major cross-Border fraud involving substituting inferior cows from the Republic for quality animals due for slaughter in Northern Ireland under BSE regulations has been uncovered by Department of Agriculture investigators.

In a raid on a farmyard at Macroom, Co Cork, at the weekend, nine Northern cattle were seized along with the lorry in which they were being transported. A file is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) arising from the investigation which also involved the Garda.

In addition, the special investigations team found equipment for retagging animals, false papers for animals and other documentation which indicates the fraud was widespread.

The fraud involved the regulations in force in the North under which a high percentage of the cow herd there is currently being slaughtered to satisfy EU regulations.

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The period of time between the slaughter there and the cow being valued for compensation purposes was such as to allow inferior cows to be substituted by the farmer for the beasts due for slaughter.

Once the animals were valued, they were smuggled South, their ear tags removed and placed in inferior animals which were then taken back North for slaughter using the false identity.

The Department of Agriculture's investigations are now being concentrated on where the Northern cows have been taken and whether they have been sold for milk production or slaughter.

Sources close to the investigation said at the weekend that the profit which was being made on some of the animals was over £300 a beast.

They are also now re-examining documents taken in a number of other raids in different parts of the country over the past two months which involved the seizure of false documents. Cattle cannot be imported from the North into the Republic because of the BSE scare, and in recent months there has been an increase in seizures along the Border.

The Minister of State for Agriculture, Mr Ned O'Keeffe, speaking at Tullamore National Livestock Show yesterday, promised that the full rigours of the law would be put in place to protect the integrity of Irish food.