Police say they have smashed a major loyalist paramilitary extortion racket centred on the building trade in Belfast.
Three top Ulster Defence Association (UDA) members in the north of the city have been arrested.
The move came after they tried to get undercover detectives posing as staff from a contractor to hand over tens of thousands of pounds.
With eight men still being questioned about a weapons seizure linked to the Ulster Volunteer Force in a separate operation, assistant chief constable Mr Alan McQuillan says the ongoing investigation has left the loyalist organisations running scared.
He said: "This has put a major dent in their ability to make money. Frankly I hope it puts the fear of God into them".
The Police Service of Northern Ireland has been conducting a long-term inquiry into how the UDA, the biggest of the loyalist paramilitary groups, makes its money.
It's understood that three of its members were arrested near a Belfast city centre restaurant after they tried to extort money for work on a north Belfast building site.
PA