When a huge Garda team raided the farm of Thomas “Slab” Murphy straddling the Border between north Louth and south Armagh, he was nowhere to be seen.
However, it was clear Murphy and his associates had been smuggling laundered fuel using two tanks that were in an outhouse straddling the Border. One half of the tank system was in the Republic, while the other half was in the North. The fuel was being smuggled across the Border in a pipe connecting the two systems, making the smuggling virtually impossible to detect.
Gardaí believe fuel was being smuggled from either side depending on the taxes being applied to fuel and the resultant retail price differential in these jurisdictions at different times.
Sterling notes
Large quantities of sterling notes seized at the Murphy farm showed those operating the oil laundry were illegally selling laundered fuel in Northern Ireland despite the company registered at the address, Ace Oils Ltd, being officially based in the Republic.
The total money seized during the searches of land owned by the Murphy family was €256,235 and £111,185 in cash and cheques, and drafts totalling €673,460. The cash and cheques were in black plastic bags in a cattle shed owned by Murphy’s brother, Patrick, adjacent to his residence.
Access to the shed was through a gate on a road on the northern side of the Border, which opened out on to a farm complex owned by the Murphys. Access from the southern side was through a field registered in the name of Patrick Murphy’s wife, Rosemary.
Detective Chief Supt Felix McKenna, head of Cab at the time, told the High Court Ace Oils was operating from the Murphy family farm, which straddled the Border with buildings in both jurisdictions.
Between April 1989 and September 2005, 16 seizures and detections of smuggled fuel were linked to individuals known to have been working for the Murphys and Ace Oils.
