Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams says Thomas "Slab" Murphy, whose house was searched yesterday as part of a cross-Border investigation into organised crime, is not a criminal.
Mr Adams described Mr Murphy, alleged former chief of staff of the IRA, as a good republican and "a key supporter of the Sinn Féin peace strategy".
Mr Adams claimed there had been a concerted effort from some quarters to demonise Mr Murphy and to portray him as a "bandit" and a "gang boss" and there was no evidence to support this.
He said the media was repeating as fact malicious spin about Mr Murphy
Mr Adams said smuggling is wrong and that his party supported the pursuit of criminal assets.
The Border raids yesterday that led to the seizure of fuel-laundering equipment, €200,000 in hidden cash, 30,000 smuggled cigarettes and two firearms was the product of months of planning, according to a senior PSNI officer.
Hundreds of Garda and PSNI officers were assisted by the army and customs officials in the raid on 15 properties at Hackballscross, Co Louth, and across the border in Co Armagh. .
Chief Supt Hunniford said the searches were "in support of a major intelligence-led investigation into suspected money laundering and fuel laundering linked to an organised criminal enterprise.
Three people arrested during the raids - which began early yesterday morning and went for most of the day - were released last night without charge. A Garda spokesman said files on the two men and a woman would be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
A fourth man who was pursued across the Border after fleeing the scene of one of the searches is still being sought. It is understood he is known to detectives.
Nine of the properties searched were South of the border, while the PSNI searched six locations in the Crossmaglen and Keady areas.
Chief Supt Bobby Hunniford, commander for Newry and Mourne, said a great deal of preplanning had gone into the operation involving an unprecedented level of co-operation between security services on both side of the Border.