Issue Date: 12/01/2022
• In excess of €24m seized and €11m forfeited to the State since the establishment of GNDOCB in 2015
The seizure of €488,000 following an operation at the Port Tunnel Plaza in recent days brings the total of cash seized by personnel from Garda National Drugs & Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB) to in excess of €24 million since the establishment of the Bureau in 2015. A further in excess of €11 million has been forfeited to the State following the conclusion of relevant Court proceedings initiated by GNDOCB in this time.
During 2021 the GNDOCB seized a total of €5,639,310 and £38,571 (UK), bringing the total amount of cash seized by the GNDOCB, since it was established on 9th March 2015 to the end of 2021, to €24,300,241, along with £264,326 (UK) and $3,721 (US), representing an exceptional level of success.
During 2021, a total of €8,230,886, £142,520 (UK) and $23 (US), was forfeited to the State following the conclusion of relevant Court proceedings initiated by the GNDOCB, bringing the total of monies seized by the GNDOCB and subsequently forfeited to the State, since it was established on 9th March 2015, to €11,186,954.48.
In 2021, sixteen (16) people were convicted in the higher courts, in respect of alleged breaches of the provisions of the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act, 2010, as amended, arising from investigations undertaken by the GNDOCB, associated with cash they have seized.
Assistant Commissioner John O’Driscoll (Organised and Serious Crime) who is assigned a lead role within An Garda Síochána, with regard to tackling organised crime, said:
"Asset-focussed interventions against targeted organised crime groups, is prioritised in the strategies adopted within Organised & Serious Crime and by the Garda National Drugs & Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB), in particular, for the purpose of seeking to deplete organised criminal finance and with an objective of dismantling the organised groups involved.
"In this regard, significant success has been achieved in recent times, in the course of operations and investigations undertaken by the GNDOCB. The targeting of relevant assets, in the first instance, followed by the locating and seizing of those assets and, later, by the charging and prosecuting of suspects, through use of money laundering and organised crime related legislative provisions, has been a key component of the organised crime related strategy adopted by An Garda Síochána and the GNDOCB, in particular”.
Note:
Significant Convictions for Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing by GNDOCB in 2021
15th April 2021, a 46 year-old man was sentenced, at Tralee Circuit Court, to 8 years, with the final 12 months suspended, arising from the seizure of almost €3.7 million on 30th September 2020, in counties Kerry and Laois.
5th July 2021, at the Special Criminal Court, a forty year old man was sentenced to 7 years in prison, having been found to be in possession of over €350,000, on 11th May 2020.
Details of Significant Cash Seizures by GNDOCB in 2021
A significant number of operations and investigations undertaken by the GNDOCB, in 2021, led to the seizures of cash.
January 2021
• search of a vehicle on the N7 in Ballybrittas, Co. Laois, seizure of cash €1,203,555, one person arrested charged
• searches of two vehicles and a hotel bedroom in Dublin 1 and 5, seizure of cash €1,632,540
• searches undertaken in Co. Monaghan and Co. Louth, seizure of cash €114,800, two persons arrested and charged
February 2021
• search of premises in Dublin 10 and 11, seizure of cash €211,005, three persons arrested and charged
April 2021
• search undertaken in Dublin, seizure of cash €109,000 and £1,681.50 (UK), one person arrested and charged
May 2021
• search undertaken in Dublin, seizure of cash €188,295, one person arrested and charged
• stop and search of a van and a related premises, seizure of cash €381,410, arrest and charging of two persons
June 2021
• stop and search of a van, seizure of cash €18,740, follow up search of two premises, seizure of cash €136,800
July 2021
• stop and search of a car, seizure of cash €105,555 and £1,500 (UK), two persons arrested, one person charged
September 2021
• stop and search of a car, seizure of €48,950, two persons arrested, one person charged
October 2021
• search of a vehicle and a hotel bedroom, in Dublin, seizure of cash €104,720, one person arrested and charged.
November 2021
• stop and search of a car, seizure of cash €408,820, three persons arrested
December 2021
• stop a vehicle on the M1, seizure of cash €83,750, one person arrested and charged
