Organised crime - Co-operation pays off in war on crime

MOST of us are lucky enough to have the luxury of being blase about the latest gangland atrocity or drug smuggling operation uncovered by the gardaí.

After all, the great majority of us have the good fortune to live beyond the tentacles of the factions running this country’s sex businesses, drug, smuggling and crime gangs.

However, the sheer scale of the operation uncovered in Spain and Ireland yesterday should challenge even the most complacent amongst us. If the unearthing of an estimated €200 million crime business run mainly by Irish expatriates does not provoke something more than a ripple of concern then yet another attempted murder in Limerick on Monday night might be a tipping point in how we perceive these crimes.