Over 1,000 beer kegs recovered in Garda sting on metal theft

Gardaí have arrested 27 people as part of a pan-European crackdown on the trade in stolen metal, uncovering more than 1,000 beer kegs.

The operation involved a coordinated effort by authorities in 20 EU countries.

Gardaí attached to the organised crime unit carried out searches in over 70 premises, focusing on Wicklow, Dublin and Cavan.

“In total 27 people were arrested for a variety of offences including burglary, theft and related matters during this two day operation. A large number of other offences were also detected including breaches of the Road Traffic Acts,” they said in a statement.

The operation was conducted in conjunction with the Metal Theft Forum, a grouping of local authorities and other related stakeholders with responsibility for enforcing legislation in this particular area of theft.

Metal is increasingly stolen for scrap in an era of high global demand. Figures compiled by the Irish Brewers Association (IBA) at the beginning of the year claimed more than 400,000 beer kegs have been stolen or gone missing since 2007, with a value of about €40 million.

"For the brewing sector, keg theft continues to be a serious problem and is hindering our ability to meet customer requirements by creating unsustainable losses," Thomas Burke of the IBA said at the time.