Ireland cited for crime gangs illegally dumping waste

Ireland and Italy were fingered as the two countries where criminal gangs are making big money from illegal exporting and dumping dangerous waste.

But despite huge profits from these crimes, estimated at more than €50bn a year, the penalties for those caught are much too small.

Eurojust, the EU’s judicial co-operation body which released the report, said it was time member states focused on environmental crime, put proper structures in place and co-operated across borders.