Money seized in IRA money laundering probe

MORE than £30,000 (€45,000) in cash was seized yesterday in a series of searches linked to IRA money laundering both in the North and South.

A small quantity of drugs was also recovered during searches of homes and businesses in the Derry area and also across the border in Co Donegal.

There were no arrests.

Police in Derry, where 11 searches were carried out, said the operation was linked to arrests of two Derry men in the Republic on February 16.

Documents and computers were also taken away for examination.

Detectives from the PSNI’s organised crime unit, which was involved in yesterday’s operation, have worked in conjunction with the gardaí.

The two Derry men were among seven men held by police in February in a major offensive against money laundering and illegal fund raising by the IRA.

The Derry men were released without charge.

Some of the €3.7 million recovered at the time in a series of searches in the Dublin and Cork areas was part of the €39.5m stolen from the Northern bank in a Belfast heist just before Christmas.

PSNI Chief Constable Hugh Orde blamed the robbery on the IRA.

East Derry DUP MP Gregory Campbell said the police operation was a further indication of the scale of money laundering that existed in the North.

He added: “It is very evident that there must be a massive increase in the detection and prosecution of individuals involved, be they paramilitary-related or otherwise.

“If there is confirmation of IRA involvement, then it further complicates any political process that Tony Blair and Peter Hain (the Northern Secretary) may have envisaged after the summer.”