By Dan Byrne for AMLi
POLICE finding €1Million in cash in a single location is something of a rarity – but in Ireland it has happened twice, in a little over a week.
Indeed multiple searches and crackdowns against organised crime in Ireland have led to the seizure of at least €3Million since New Year’s Day.
Police sources said travel restrictions between Britain and Ireland because of the Covid pandemic as well increased security activity at ports due to Brexit was making it more difficult for criminals to carry out international money laundering activities. “They [the criminals] appear to be stockpiling cash because it is getting harder to launder here and abroad. Hence when we do find the money, it is in huge sums,” said one senior detective.
Over last weekend, €1 million in cash was discovered concealed in a vehicle in north Dublin, and was seized by armed detectives from the national police force (An Garda Siochana, AGS).
Sources said the individual responsible – a native of Dublin city – was doing business with organised criminals, with his vehicle registered as a taxi.
This trend of criminals securing taxi licences to disguise financial crime activity has been on the increase since the onset of the pandemic in Ireland last March, the Irish Independent reports.
“This seizure of a significant quantity of cash will, we believe, contribute to the disruption and potential ultimate dismantling of particular organised crime groups that we continue to target,” said Assistant Garda Commissioner John O’Driscoll, who oversees Irish investigations of serious crime.
PREVIOUSLY: A further €1 million confiscated by Irish police.
In an earlier event on Friday January last that largely mirrors the developments last weekend, members of Ireland’s police force confiscated more than €1Million in cash – which authorities believed to be connected to a money-laundering operation.
Officers found the cash in a van they stopped on one of the country’s major motorways. A spokesperson for the national police force said the planned operation took place on the M7 motorway in Co Kildare 6.30am Friday.
Assistant Commissioner John O’Driscoll said it was part of an operation to dismantle an organised crime group and its money laundering organisation.
The driver, a 45-year-old man from Lithuania, was arrested on suspicion of involvement in a criminal organisation, to facilitate money laundering, relating to the suspected proceeds of drug trafficking.
More than €1Million in cash was found in the van and another €10,000 in cash in a follow-up search in the Irish Midlands.
The suspect was being detained under anti-gang legislation and can be questioned for up to seven days.
It is thought the money was about to be taken out of the country to be laundered and also to purchase drugs.
Police said they were targeting a drugs gang based on Ireland’s east coast with links to a major eastern European drugs organisation.
Commenting on this operation, O’Driscoll said: “An Garda Síochána continues to pursue organised crime groups who are believed to involved in supplying illicit drugs within our communities, the motivation for which is financial gain.
“We again today have made a significant advance in our attempt to dismantle organised crime groups, by locating and seizing the suspected proceeds of their criminal activity.
“Despite our significant commitment to tackling issues associated with the Covid-19 pandemic, at this time, An Garda Síochána remains focused on protecting communities from serious and organised crime, including cyber enabled crime, drug trafficking and associated money laundering.”
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