Three held after cross-Border smuggling raids

THE home of top republican Thomas “Slab” Murphy was searched yesterday as part of a massive security operation to smash a multi-million euro smuggling racket on both sides of the Border.

Two men and a woman were held for questioning as police seized cash, cigarettes, fuel and weapons in a series of raids on properties in north Louth and south Armagh.

Security sources confirmed the offensive against organised crime, which also involved money laundering, was one of the biggest ever mounted, following months of planning by detectives in Belfast and Dublin.