Illicit fuel laundering plants discovered in Northern Ireland

A total of three fuel laundering plants producing illicit diesel for the commercial vehicle market were discovered in Northern Ireland last month.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) officers attended a fire at premises in the Benburb area of Co Tyrone on 25 January.

A shed, believed to have contained a laundering plant, was completely destroyed in the fire.

On 24 January, HMRC officers, working with the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), dismantled a mobile laundering plant that had been abandoned on the roadside in the Crossmaglen area of south Armagh.

They discovered that it was an acid laundering plant, consisting of two large fuel tanks hidden in a trailer, secured only by a rope.

HMRC staff, accompanied by PSNI officers, searched an industrial unit in Fivemiletown on 21 January. Officers removed more than half a tonne of toxic waste, the by-product of the laundering process.

Five vehicles, 4,000 litres of laundered fuel and a quantity of bleaching earth were also seized during the operation.

Graeme Anderson, assistant director specialist investigations, HMRC says: “Buying illicit fuel not only funds organised crime but supports and encourages these dangerous activities within our communities."