Neither the Provisional IRA nor the "Real" IRA has been connected with the importation of the infected lambs that prompted the foot-and-mouth crisis, but both are heavily involved in smuggling in the south Armagh-north Louth area.
Gardai from the National Bureau of Crime Investigation (NBCI) have questioned several people involved in the importation of the potentially infected lambs that threatened the State's agriculture industry.
The investigation is aimed at establishing whether there were breaches of the regulations on the importation of livestock. The Revenue Commissioners will also be concerned to discover if there were attempts to evade payment of VAT.
According to Garda sources, there were no indications that republican paramilitaries were involved in the smuggling operation. The figures suspected include a midlands livestock dealer who has previously been investigated for cruelty to livestock; a Northern Ireland haulier; and another cattle dealer from Northern Ireland.
There was a very narrow profit margin on the importation of lambs. However, gardai point out that smuggling is the main economic activity in the area around the farm where the infection broke out.
Both the heads of the Provisional IRA and the rival "Real IRA" in the south Armagh areas are major smugglers. In a raid on a shed owned by the "Real IRA" leader, gardai looking for bomb-making equipment found a considerable quantity of contraband alcohol.
The Provisional IRA leader is said to have become a millionaire through smuggling fuel. Last December armed members of the "Real IRA" confronted and overpowered gardai attempting to seize suspected counterfeit goods near the Border.
Provisional IRA figures dominate the trade in illicit cigarettes. While legal cigarettes sell for around £4.30 sterling in Northern Ireland, the illicit cigarettes, known in some areas now as "IRA cigarettes", sell for £2.80. The retailer also makes a larger profit margin.
Petrol and diesel, fuel, cigarettes and tobacco, livestock and other products such as illegal growth-promoters for animals are illegally moved across the Border.
The restrictions created by the Garda and Army roadblocks are stemming this illicit trade and have led to friction at checkpoints. Two members of the Garda have been assaulted at checkpoints.
The continuing terrorist threat to the North's security forces in south Armagh has also resulted in the RUC inserting permanent checkpoints at the exclusion zone inside Northern Ireland around the infected farm in Meigh, south Armagh.
Police management in the North has a duty to ensure the health and safety of its members. It is understood a decision was made not to risk officers' lives, despite the threat to the North's agricultural economy.
The RUC would not comment on its deployment of personnel in response to the infection crisis.
While the threat to security forces declined after the Provisional IRA ceasefires of the mid-1990s, the "Real IRA" poses what the RUC Chief Constable has described as a "potent and growing" threat.
There have been 30 attacks on security-force targets in the North in the past year. The RUC discovered a 1,100lb landmine on the road between Armagh city and Monaghan on January 16th. The bomb used in the attack on Omagh on August 15th, 1998, was also constructed by dissident republicans a short distance from the foot-and-mouth outbreak.
While the movement of livestock across the Border to slaughterhouses in the Republic is still a major activity, gardai report that the smuggling of petrol and diesel northwards has been the main form of illegal activity in the area for the past two years.
Diesel is about 15p a gallon cheaper in the Republic. Cigarettes are also smuggled through the Border area in huge quantities.