Premises across south Dublin and Co Wicklow have been raided by members of the Criminal Assets Bureau (Cab) as part of a major international investigation into the activities of drug dealers and money launderers, it has emerged.
Those at the centre of the investigation live in Ireland and are believed to have built up a property portfolio of 750 houses across the UK with 40 houses in the Republic.
"These are master criminals in the true sense of the phrase," said one senior source.
As the 10 Cab raids were happening yesterday, police in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland carried out their own raids at the Cab's request. Almost £750,000 (€1.2 million) in cash was recovered in the UK searches.
Gardaí believe many of the properties were bought with money generated by the English and Scottish drugs trade.
The two men at the centre of yesterday's raids are in their 50s and are from Scotland and Liverpool. They have been living in Shankill, Co Dublin, and Roundwood, Co Wicklow, for a number of years. They have run their UK moneylaundering and property empires from Ireland.
Both men were at home when gardaí called yesterday. However, while a large quantity of documentation was taken away for analysis neither was arrested.
More than 100 gardaí took part in the searches, including members of the Emergency Response Unit. At the Shankill property gardaí rammed the gates to the house before searching the seven-acre estate. One of the cars parked in the drive was worth more than €500,000.
In an adjacent warehouse gardaí found a large quantity of imported Chinese ornaments. Detectives are working on the theory that these may have been used to conceal shipments of drugs.
The men are believed to have been involved in widespread mortgage application fraud on behalf of major UK drugs cartels.
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