REVENUE officers and Environmental Protection Agency personnel assisted by gardaí have discovered a huge illicit diesel laundering plant as well as an illegal dump in remote farmland in Co Monaghan.
The discovery was made yesterday afternoon in Rebane in Shantonagh, Co Monaghan.
About 21,000 litres of illicit diesel and 10 filter beds for removing marker dye were discovered in the swoop as was a substantial illegal dump, which is understood to contain medical waste.
Differences in the price of oil on either side of the Border make the illegal practice of “diesel washing” highly lucrative as the washed oil can then be sold to filling stations as motor fuel.
The find follows the discovery of a diesel laundering plant in south Armagh close to the Louth and Monaghan borders earlier this week. Both discoveries are part of an ongoing crackdown on criminal activity by the revenue and police authorities on both sides of the Border.
A large volume of hydrochloric acid is used in the laundering process. The criminals use the material to remove the marker dye from heating oil. However, the process removes essential lubricating qualities from the diesel, which can destroy engines.
Every year, thousands of litres of the acid used in the process – or “diesel wash” – is dumped by the criminals in containers along the Border, which costs local authorities millions of euro to clean up. Most of the used acid is shipped to Germany for specialist destruction.