Customs officials have warned they will continue to raid and dismantle illegal diesel-laundering plants. Revenue and Customs officers from Dundalk, Clones and Dublin yesterday raided a plant near Dundalk which they estimated was making a profit of up to £50,000 a week.
It was identical to an operation uncovered by gardai near Rathkenny, Slane, Co Meath, three months ago and is an indication of the extensive and elaborate methods being used by gangs who are making substantial profits.
Yesterday's operation was the culmination of over five months of work by customs officers.
A spokesperson for the Dundalk mobile unit said: "This follows a long surveillance operation and covert monitoring of the direct movements of the key personnel involved and the vehicles being used." The plant had been built in a large open shed at Roskeagh, Kilcurry, about four miles north of Dundalk, not far from the main road to Newry.
The machinery was running when it was raided by officers supported by armed gardai.
On the premises they found 60,000 litres of diesel oil. The plant was estimated to be able to process up to 200,000 litres a week.
The red gas oil (diesel), which originated in Northern Ireland and is not intended for sale or use in the Republic, would have been stored in one of six overground tanks before being pumped through sophisticated machinery that would have used chemicals including sulphuric and hydrochloric acids to remove or "wash" the red marker from it.
It would be sold on to unsuspecting members of the public.
A customs official said it was quite usual for traces of the acids to be found in the washed diesel and to cause damage to engines. "There is a massive profit margin in this, and while we do not believe the same personnel are behind this operation as were in the one in Rathkenny, we suspect that the diesel laundered here would have taken a part of the market that was left void after we closed it [Rathkenny] down."
"This is the most significant seizure to date, and our message to the people involved in this activity is that we are closing you down and will continue to do so and we are in a position to say we are highly successful in doing just that.
"The people behind these plants will not obey anybody's rules or regulations," the spokesman added.
In a follow-up search yesterday afternoon, customs officers found a 40-ft container lorry with fireworks in the Lurgankeel area of Dundalk.