The largest diesel-laundering plant in the history of the State was discovered in a farmyard near Rathkenny, Co Meath, yesterday. The scale of the operation led Customs officers and gardai to estimate that more than 30,000 gallons of green diesel was being laundered each week, resulting in a considerable loss of revenue to the State.
It is also believed the laundering operation was making a profit of between £30,000 and £50,000 a week for subversives. The size of the warehouse and the amount of equipment led to Customs officers from Clones and Dublin being drafted in to assist the Dundalk unit dismantling the operation. They expect it will take the rest of the week to complete this.
The plant was found by gardai following work by the members of the Emergency Response Unit. The specially trained and armed unit was on patrol in the area following Monday's armed train robbery in Dunleer, Co Louth.
When gardai opened the warehouse door the operation was running, but there was no one on the premises. The equipment, estimated to have cost thousands of pounds, included two underground tanks, six mixing and distillation tanks, mobile pumps, a generator and an air compressor as well as six large tankers to transport the newly "laundered" diesel to garage forecourts.
"The diesel would have been brought here under cover, for example in a tank inside a trailer so it would not be spotted if stopped at a checkpoint," said Mr Sean Brosnan of the Dundalk Customs unit.
The green diesel, purchased at about 90p a gallon, would be loaded into one of two underground tanks before being put through a chemical process to remove the green dye. The laundered diesel would be sold to garage proprietors at over £2 a gallon.
If the green diesel was bought in bulk it could have been at a lower price, therefore increasing the profit.
Although no arrests were made yesterday, Mr Brosnan said a file will be prepared by his officers for the DPP and charges may follow.