A FORMER member of the Provisional IRA and convicted terrorist has been arrested following searches by members of the Criminal Assets Bureau (Cab) investigating a counterfeiting operation linked to the republican movement.
The suspect was arrested as gardaí in Dundalk searched business premises and houses looking for details of assets acquired by him and his associates arising from their suspected involvement in printing fake euro notes.
The man being held is in his 50s and is originally from Northern Ireland. He has been known for several decades to gardaí and to police forces in the North and other jurisdictions.
He has been jailed in the past for his role in a bombing campaign abroad by the Provisional IRA.
The suspect, who lived in north Dublin for a period in the 1980s, also served time in prison in the Republic following his conviction on explosives charges in his 20s.
He also has a number of other, more minor convictions for activities related to his involvement in the Provisional IRA, including handling stolen goods, and serious disciplinary issues while in jail here.
Along with a number of other former members of the Provisional IRA, he is believed to have run a euro-counterfeiting operation here in recent years.
Gardaí believe that the gang at one time raised funds for the Provisional IRA and that more recently some members have been raising funds for dissident groups.
Those fundraising activities have been under investigation for some time and yesterday’s search operation by the Cab and Louth gardaí represents the latest chapter of that investigation.
A number of houses as well as professional premises were raided shortly after 7am in Dundalk and the Mountpleasant area north of the town.
The man held was taken for questioning to Dundalk Garda station. He must be charged with an offence or released without charge today.