GARDA AND Customs officers have arrested four men, seized nearly 150,000 litres of illegally laundered fuel in six counties and discovered one of the largest laundering plants ever found in the Republic.
A fleet of vehicles used to store and transport the fuel being laundered in the Co Monaghan plant was also seized.
It included three oil tankers filled with 95,000 litres of fuel, two Transit vans, a box lorry, a 40-foot tanker and an articulated lorry.
Those operating the illegal laundering plants source agricultural diesel, usually by the tanker-load. They then “wash” or “launder” the fuel to remove the dye, usually by pumping it through a bleaching material.
Once washed it can be sold at the higher price of regular motor fuel. The dyed fuel costs about 70 cent per litre. When the dye is removed, the diesel sells for about €1.40 per litre.
Yesterday’s operation involved considerable Garda resources, with specialist units such as the Criminal Assets Bureau, Organised Crime Unit and Emergency Response Unit (ERU) all involved.
The seizures and arrests were the culmination of months of covert investigations and surveillance targeting the illegal plant found in Monaghan, the garages it was selling to and those transporting the illegal fuel.
The plant discovered in Monaghan was found at a warehouse in Corrygarry, Castleblayney, and was laundering fuel when the Garda and Customs team moved in yesterday.
It was a large operation and was capable of laundering around 18 million litres of fuel annually, resulting in a potential loss to the Exchequer – and revenue for the gang responsible – of an estimated €9 million per annum.
A man in his 30s from Northern Ireland was arrested at the scene, along with a local man in his 20s. Both were being held at Monaghan Garda station last night.
The older man is from South Armagh but has an address in Co Louth, and was the main target of yesterday’s operation.
As the Monaghan plant was being raided, teams of gardaí and Customs officers raided a number of fuel garages believed to be linked to the plant.
At a garage in Loughrea, Co Galway, 6,150 litres of fuel were seized.
In a service station in Birr, Co Offaly, a further 17,000 litres were seized, while in Roscommon 4,700 litres were seized.
In another search in Athlone, Co Westmeath, another 11,500 litres were seized.
The final garage targeted was in Rathfarnham, south Dublin, where 9,000 litres of fuel were seized.
In Roscommon and Tullamore two men in their 40s were arrested and were being held at local stations last night.
Garda sources said the officers from the Criminal Assets Bureau that took part in the raids had confiscated written and electronic files for examination.
These will be analysed in an effort to find any assets or cash that may be the proceeds of the fuel laundering operation.
The Garda helicopter was also used during the raids yesterday. Armed ERU members as well as their armed colleagues from the Garda’s northern and western Regional Support Units were drafted in to support local uniformed gardaí in the event an armed response was needed.
While the raids in the Republic were under way, the PSNI and customs officers in the North were conducting their portion of the operation.
They searched four premises in Armagh and Tyrone as part of the cross-Border investigation into the Monaghan laundering plant and those behind it.
Diesel intended for use in the agricultural sector is marked with a green dye in the Republic and a red dye in the North.