Gardaí in Louth have raided one of the largest illegal bottling plants uncovered in recent times.
They said last night they believe it was in full operation supplying the highly profitable black market with illegal alcohol in the lead-up to Christmas. The way the bottles were being packaged suggests that the bar and hotel trade were among the customers.
Experienced Customs officers said the scale suggests that it was supplying not just the Border area but also most of Leinster. "I would hate to get this stuff in a nightclub," a Customs spokesman said after inspecting the unhygienic conditions in which it was being produced.
The plant was in a large warehouse in Ardee on the main Dublin- Derry road and was divided into sections for the bottling, sealing and packing of possibly hundreds of thousands of litre bottles of illicit vodka. The loss in revenue to the State could have run into hundreds of thousands of euros, according to Customs sources.
The plant is thought to have been operating for some time; the alcohol was being sold labelled and bottled as Smirnoff vodka. Gardaí were last night trying to ascertain if the labels were genuine. The way they were put upside down on to the bottles suggests they were to be sold in the hotel and bar trade.
The plant was discovered in a series of searches carried out following the arrest of two men in relation to a number of armed robberies in the Border area which were linked to dissident republicans. The men were arrested yesterday under section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act and detained in Dundalk Garda station.
Another man, who has previously been linked to the INLA, is suspected of being associated with the bottling plant; however gardaí believe profit and not political beliefs was the motive.
The warehouse was dark and dirty and rubbish was strewn about. There were plastic 10-gallon containers of what appeared to be cheap alcohol or methylated spirits, which was possibly diluted before being transferred into the bottles. Other containers held bottles which were soaking to remove labels so they could be re-used. One plastic drum had contained material to remove traffic scum off car windscreens.
Customs officers have taken possession of the plant and are in the process of dismantling it.