Issue Date: 30/11/2022
Working as part of the Joint Agency Task Force (JATF), Gardaí conducted a number of operations along border counties on Thursday, 24th November 2022, with the aim of tackling cross-border crime and disrupting criminal activity using the border corridor.
The high-visibility operation took place on both sides of the border involving close co-operation between An Garda Síochána and the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). Gardaí attached to the North Western Region Roads Policing Unit, Armed Support Unit and Detective Branch conducted checkpoints and patrols along the border areas.
As part of the operation, Gardaí from the Carrickmacross District and the Armed Support Unit in Cavan conducted a search alongside Revenue Officers at a premises in Castleblayney, Co. Monaghan. A 40-foot trailer suspected of being involved in fuel laundering, as well as oil laundering apparatus, was seized. A lorry and tanker which contained suspected waste from fuel laundering was also seized.
In Louth, the Dundalk Drugs Unit searched three addresses in the Carlingford area. During the course of these searches, approximately €38,000 worth of suspected cocaine was seized, as well as small quantities of Alprazolam tablets and cannabis. Investigations are ongoing.
An Garda Síochána is committed to working with our partners in this jurisdiction and in Northern Ireland in investigating all types of cross-border crime
Note:
About the Joint Agency Task Force (JATF)
The 2015 Fresh Start Agreement established the formal mandate for a Cross Border Joint Agency Task Force with the aim of bringing a concerted and enhanced effort to tackle cross-jurisdictional organised crime.
The Joint Agency Task force is led by senior officers from the PSNI, An Garda Síochána, and other key partner agencies, including Revenue Services on both sides of the border and the UK’s National Crime Agency.
The current six strategic priorities identified for the Cross Border Joint Agency Cross Border Task Force are:
• Tobacco and Fuel smuggling
• Synthetic Drugs
• Human Trafficking
• Rural Crime (with cross-border dimension)
• Financial Crime
• Immigration
Images from the JATF cross-border operation are available on the @gardainfo Twitter page and the Cavan Monaghan Garda Division Facebook page.
