Operation from mid-September to end of November netted €17.5m in intercepted money, with 4,089 fraudulent transactions identified across the world

Senior gardaí urge cash-strapped people, from students to drug users, not to become money mules for people looking to use their bank accounts

A routine traffic stop in Midleton turned into a fast-moving garda investigation — and it has uncovered an international crime gang preying on health workers and defrauding the State