Cross-border bid to hit gangland motor trade

The Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) and Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) are enlisting each other’s expertise in combating organised crime and the second-hand motor trade.

The agencies are holding joint workshops at a two-day cross-border conference, this Wednesday and Thursday, organised by An Garda Síochána and the PSNI.

The use by major criminal networks of the second-hand motor industry for money laundering and various other types of criminal activity has been a focus of CAB for a number of years.

It formed a key part of CAB’s case against the Kinahan cartel and the Byrne organised crime group, which was bringing vehicles into Ireland from Manchester and Birmingham.

Sources said CAB and NCA were “enlisting support for each other on how best to tackle the problem”.

This week’s conference in Newcastle, Co Down, comes as CAB yesterday conducted an operation targeting an individual involved in the second-hand car trade.

Five vehicles — a BMW X5, a Range Rover Sport, a Mercedes E Class, a Mini Cooper, and a Renault Clio — were seized from a garage on foot of a CAB Revenue debt.

It is thought the tax demand was in the region of €290,000, with the seized vehicles worth around €60,000.