A report outlining the rate of serious and organised crime in Northern Ireland has found that the IRA is no longer involved in systematic fundraising.
The Organised Crime Task Force - a multi-agency group including police, customs and excise; the Assets Recovery Agency; and government ministers - estimates that £600 million (€878 million) is raised annually in the North through organised crime by both paramilitary and criminal gangs.
The content of the task force's annual report concurs with a statement by the IRA last July in which the organisation said its units were stood down and ordered to cease all activity, including organised crime.
"The IRA, as an organisation, has stopped its involvement in organised crime, although old habits die hard for some individuals," a senior task force source said.
"Any money still being raised by either past or present IRA members is not going towards its activities," he said. "Loyalists, however, remain actively involved in all forms of organised crime, particularly drug-dealing."
The task force said the main areas of concern included fuel smuggling along the Border, illegal dumping, money-laundering, extortion, drug dealing and armed robbery.
The British government believes that up to two-thirds of organised crime networks are paramilitary-linked.
The report found that loyalists continue to deal drugs and run a series of other money-spinning scams including counterfeiting, money lending and armed robbery.
Dissident republican groups have used the proceeds from shifting contraband goods, robbery and intellectual property crime to fund attacks on the security forces.
Agencies