€ 440,000 seized at Rosslare Port

€ 440,000 in cash has been found hidden in the door panels of a car at Rosslare Europort (photo) in Co. Wexford. According to Customs officials the find is being linked to drug smuggling.

Two men were in the car when it was stopped yesterday by officers of the Revenue & Customs Service before it was about to be driven on to a ferry destined for France.

Customs officers at Rosslare said their initial investigation indicates that the money was intended for the importation of a large consignment of drugs.

The two men in the car were released after their identity was established.

Officers later applied for and were granted a three-month detention order under the Proceeds of Crime Act by Judge Gerard Furlong at Gorey District Court, in order to carry out further investigations.

This find brings the amount of money seized by Customs officers under the Proceeds of Crime Act (enacted 12 years ago) to almost € 3 million.

Finance Minister Brian Lenihan, who is currently scraping the bottom of every government barrel for extra cash, will be delighted.

The Emerald Islander

Combined Action against Fuel Smuggling

The ever rising price of oil, and the subsequently also rising prices for fuel have an increasing effect on motorist, hauliers and the petroleum industry, as well as on various government bodies and state agencies on both sides of the Irish border.

Fuel smuggling and the illegal 'laundering' of agricultural diesel and special fuels, which are distinguished by an added colour, have always been one of the favourite activities of criminal groups on the island, North and South. But the more the prices for oil and fuel rise on the legal markets and at petrol stations, the more lucrative this activity becomes for criminals.

Rogue Irish hauliers have now been warned by the Revenue Commissioners (who collect our taxes, but are also in charge of the Customs Service) that they are to step up their campaign to detect illegal usage of motor fuel.

The move has been welcomed by the Irish Road Haulage Association, which wants the rogue operators put out of business.

Already this year marked mineral oil, reserved for agricultural use, has been discovered in the fuel tanks of 471 Irish vehicles not entitled to use it.

In the first six months of 2008 there have also been seizures of more than 57,000 litres of 'laundered fuel', 'green diesel' and Northern Ireland kerosene in the Republic.

Meanwhile new measures to combat 'fuel laundering' and fuel smuggling are also planned in the North, where most of the illegal fuel operations have been based so far.

Paul Goggins (right), Security Minister in the Northern government, is due to give details of increased activity and co-operation by a number of agencies from both sides of the border today.

It remains to be seen if the combined forces of the two states will have a real effect on the Irish fuel smugglers. They have been in their illegal business since 1922, and despite various campaigns against them over the decades, they are more active now than ever before.

In my opinion fuel smuggling and 'laundering' will continue as long as oil and fuel prices are high and the profits for smugglers and criminals are lucrative.
The limited forces of the Customs Service, Garda Siochana and the PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland) will - despite their best intentions and efforts - not be enough to solve the problem.

The Emerald Islander

Cannabis worth € 8 Million seized in Rosslare

Cannabis resin with an estimated street value of € 8 million has been seized by Irish Customs officers in the port of Rosslare in County Wexford (left).

The drugs have been discovered yesterday afternoon, hidden amongst legitimate cargo in a 40 ft container that had arrived by ferry from Cherbourg in France. The cannabis was packed on two wooden pallets marked as 'footwear'. It is understood that there were in total 1145 kgs of the drug hidden in the container.

Customs officers say they made the seizure after risk profiling the cargo. They were also assisted by a specially trained drug detection dog.

Last night a 27-year-old man and a woman aged 20 have been arrested by Gardaí in Wexford in connection with the drugs find in Rosslare. They have been questioned and are still being detained at Wexford Garda Station. They can be held for up to seven days.