Garda raid automated oil laundering plant

A HIGHLY-SOPHISTICATED, fully-mechanised oil laundering plant raided by customs officers yesterday was a potential gold mine that could have netted its criminal operators 50,000 a day in profits.

The plant, deep in the countryside close to the border, was one of the largest ever discovered in the State, with a potential to wash 150,000 litres of oil every day.

Customs officers moved in on the plant at Kilcurry, near Dundalk, around 6am yesterday. They discovered five large over-ground tanks with a total capacity of hundreds of thousands of litres of oil.