CAB officers freeze €260k as part of two ongoing investigations

US federal agency investigating company involved in illegal manufacture of drugs contacted Criminal Assets Bureau over Irish bank account

CAB says the frozen funds are the result of two separate and ongoing investigations. File Picture

Officers from the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) have frozen two bank accounts containing over €260,000 yesterday and today.

CAB says the frozen funds are the result of two separate and ongoing investigations.

The first investigation follows contact made with CAB on November 10 by a US federal agency investigating a company involved in the illegal manufacture of drugs, contrary to US law.

CAB says the US agency told CAB it had identified an Irish bank account which was being used to receive funds as part of this crime and for onward transmission to a bank account in another country. 

An investigation was commenced in co-operation with the US agency and approximately €150,000 was subsequently frozen in an Irish bank account.

The investigation remains ongoing and CAB says it is an example of the bureau working with its international law enforcement partners to deny and deprive criminals of assets, wherever situated and derived, directly or indirectly, from criminal activity.

The second investigation is part of the CAB contribution to Operation Thor, targeting organised crime groups involved in burglaries and thefts across the country. 

CAB says that today’s actions follow an October 29 operation where searches were conducted in Dublin and Wicklow.

CAB's investigations identified an additional bank account belonging to a particular organised crime group and froze a further €110,000. 

A total of €358,000 has now been frozen as a result of this investigation.

This operation is seen as another significant development in the investigation into the assets of this criminal group, CAB says.