82 arrested in crackdown on illegal immigrants

Gardai have arrested at least 82 foreigners as part of a continuing crackdown on suspected illegal immigrants.

Eight people were arrested today on foot of deportation orders, while a further 74 were detained under the Aliens Act.

Three hundred Gardai were involved in the arrest operation, which began at 7am in every county outside of Dublin.

Those detained include Chinese, Malaysian and Brazilian immigrants and more arrests are expected in the coming days and weeks.

Last week, 36 suspected illegal immigrants were arrested in the first phase of Operation Hyphen.

Nineteen of those subsequently appeared in court, while six were detained to await deportation.