THE CRIMINAL Assets Bureau (Cab), which is investigating criminal activity in Limerick, has frozen the accounts of two men who had more than €150,000 in a credit union in the city.
This follows confirmation from gardaí that criminal gangs were fooling people into minding money for them.
Since Operation Platinum was launched in May, when Cab and gardaí carried out extensive raids throughout the city, hundreds of thousands of euro have been taken from criminals, it was revealed yesterday.
Detectives have confirmed that gangs involved in drug dealing are now using acquaintances and relatives to mind money for them. Gardaí have warned people not to be fooled into hoarding money for the gangs.
"This should be a warning to all people not to be taken in by these gangs," a leading Garda source said.
"These two men were on social welfare and have lost their benefits. They could not explain how they acquired the money."
Numerous bank and credit union accounts have been frozen, the latest involving what gardaí describe as "respectable" people who end up putting drugs money into their accounts.
Detectives with the bureau suspect that the men, who do not have serious criminal records, may have been holding money in their accounts for relatives involved in the drug trade. One account contained €78,000 and the other held a similar amount, according to Garda sources.
"Raids were carried out by Cab earlier this year on numerous businesses, solicitors offices and credit unions," a detective said.
"Hours of painstaking work have been involved and a number of accounts in credit unions have been examined closely."
In the last number of days at least two accounts have been frozen and more may face the same fate.
"The people involved were on social welfare payments and these have been stopped, so they are being hit hard. They have been interviewed and their explanations for having the money don't add up," he added.
The Cab has two profilers working in Limerick investigating the circumstances in which city criminals have acquired houses, property and substantial bank accounts.
"They are trying every trick in the book to outwit the gardaí and giving money to relations to mind is one way. But it looks like this time they have lost out badly," the detective said.
Keeping drugs and money in their homes has proved costly for the criminals as numerous raids have yielded more than €500,000 in cash and millions of euro worth of drugs.