Cross-Border co-operation cuts profits from crime

CROSS-BORDER police operations have intercepted criminal activity worth hundreds of millions of euro in recent years, according to a new report.

The first-ever Cross Border Organised Crime Assessment said while the vast majority of criminal activity was for personal profit, paramilitary organisations continued to be involved in some crimes.

The report said organised criminal groups and small-scale operators were involved in a range of crimes, including alcohol fraud; drugs trafficking; illegal immigration; counterfeiting; money-laundering; VAT fraud; oil fraud, tobacco smuggling; vehicle crime and illegal dumping.

The dossier shows:

Alcohol fraud is costing the British state some £600 million (€900m) in lost revenue per year;

€20m worth of illegal drugs were seized in joint police operations;

Counterfeit goods worth in excess of €12m were seized;

30 oil laundering plants were dismantled and 1,500 vehicles involved in oil fraud were seized.

The report said money- laundering and VAT fraud had emerged as a lucrative crime in recent years. “The breadth, sophistication and variety of methods of money-laundering and fraud appear to have increased in recent years,” it said.

In November 2002, a joint operation involving British customs, the gardaí, the Criminal Assets Bureau and the Revenue Commissioners led to a man being charged with an alleged VAT fraud of €450m. As part of the probe, CAB obtained orders to freeze assets worth around €20m while British customs restrained assets worth €12m.

The report said criminals were laundering millions of euro annually. It said criminals try to cover their money trail by transferring funds between accounts across the two jurisdictions or using bureaux de change to exchange their money between euros and sterling in a bid to disguise its origins.

The report, launched yesterday by Justice Minister Michael McDowell and Northern Ireland Security Minister Ian Pearson, also noted the growth in illegal dumping, with 140 such sites identified in Northern Ireland, all of which contained some waste from the Republic.