Gardaí have broken up a major international crime gang who they believe have stolen and exported up to €3 million worth of high-powered luxury sports cars and motorbikes from the State in the last eight months.
Gardaí were last night studying the shipping records of a bogus company to determine the extent of the operation.
Four gang leaders were arrested during a Garda raid at a business premises in Co Kildare yesterday just before noon, The Irish Times has learned.
The four, all Lebanese, were in Garda custody last night. Two were in Naas and two were in Newbridge Garda stations as detectives continued follow-up raids at houses across Dublin.
Garda sources said the gang members were dismantling stolen vehicles and packing them into 40ft containers, which were then exported through Dublin Port.
The vehicles were being driven across the Continent into eastern Europe, where they were being sold for parts.
In the Dublin West Garda division alone around 100 high-powered vehicles have been stolen in the last six to eight months. None has been recovered.
"We believe these cars were being stolen to order from houses in Dublin and surrounding counties by Irish criminals," said a Garda source.
"In most cases the keys were stolen during house break-ins and the cars were driven away. They were then being sold on to the international gang for between €2,000 and €20,000 per vehicle."
When a 15-strong team of detectives raided the warehouse in Colbinstown, Co Kildare, yesterday they found a container packed with spare parts, some from 04 top of the range Mercedes and BMW vehicles.
Gardaí said the parts belonged to around 20 vehicles, and were valued at some €300,000.
Among the dismantled vehicles recovered were: a BMW 04 530TDI valued at €7a,000, which was stolen from the Naas Road two weeks ago; a 03 FIAT Leon sports car, valued at €40,000; an engine from a 04 Mercedes Kompressor; around six 1990s BMWs valued at between €5,000 and €20,000; three mid-1990s Mercedes valued at around €17,000 each; five Mercedes engines and gearboxes; and a Kawasaki 600 motorbike.
Gardaí in Blanchardstown have been working on the operation for the last six to eight months along with detectives from the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, which includes the stolen car squad.
A large number of credit cards were recovered during yesterday's operation, and gardaí believe these may provide them with a "roadmap" to trace the origins of the stolen vehicles.
Large amounts of paper work, including shipping records, were also recovered.
