IRA has strong links with British gangs, expert claims

THE IRA has forged an alliance with a network of criminal gangs in Britain in a multi-million euro cigarette and fuel smuggling racket, a former head of the Special Branch in Belfast claimed yesterday.

Bill Lowry told BBC Radio 4’s File On Four last night okthat links were built by senior Provisional IRA members with British gangsters while they spent time in high-security jails.

The programme reported allegations that the IRA was involved in the laundering of hundreds of millions of pounds, some of which was reinvested in elaborate schemes to bring illicit fuel and tobacco into Britain.