Court orders granted following Garda raids

GARDAÍ INVESTIGATING organised crime in Limerick have been granted court orders against 12 individuals from whom money was seized during a series of Garda searches on Thursday.

The cash, which included euro, sterling and dollars, totalled almost €250,000 and was seized from homes in Limerick city and Clare.

“Operation Platinum” involved searches of 120 private houses and offices of lawyers and accountants, as gardaí attempted to find evidence in relation to assets acquired by feuding criminals.

At Limerick District Court yesterday, detectives from Limerick and members of the Criminal Assets Bureau (Cab) told Judge Aeneas McCarthy they believed the money was the proceeds of crime. The court heard amounts ranging from less than €2,000 to more than €30,000 were seized. Some was recovered in bedrooms and cupboards, and in one house a large quantity of cash was recovered in an extractor fan.

During the lengthy court hearing, it was claimed the owners of the money were directly linked to criminal figures in the city and some were close relatives of those involved in the drugs trade.

In each case, gardaí said they needed more time to determine the source of the cash. Eleven of the applications were granted by Judge McCarthy and the 12th will be reviewed on Monday.

Cab officers will begin analysing paperwork and hard drives seized during the searches. The operation involved more than 250 gardaí from Limerick, Cork and Kerry, as well as teams from Dublin-based specialist units.

© 2008 The Irish Times

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