In a stellar performance, The Criminal Assets Bureau (Cab) reported one of its most successful years, largely due to executing tax requirements on criminal elements and liquidating the property obtained from arrests. Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee, is anticipated to update the Cabinet on the Bureau’s strides and her proposed plans for significantly boosting the Bureau’s abilities.
Sources within the Garda indicate that the prosperous year, highlighted by high value assets confiscated and large sums of money restored to the public purse, coincided with the nation’s economy reverting to a state reminiscent of the Celtic Tiger boom. The increased demand for narcotics, particularly cocaine, factored into this scenario despite the wholesale price per kilo jumping from €25,000 to €40,000 within the previous year due to substantial cocaine seizures within the country.
Reports indicate that the Bureau executed 188 raids across 22 counties in the past year. Additionally, the Bureau held its initial publicly promoted online auction last year, with the sale of over 100 confiscated items including designer clothing and watches, generating €446,000.
As part of a new strategic blueprint, Minister McEntee is projected to reveal an action plan to the Cabinet to enhance Bureau’s capacity by 45% over the next two years. The plan is primarily focused on extending the Bureau’s intelligence operations and enforcement duties.
Further, the Proceeds of Crime (Amendment) Bill 2023, which Minister McEntee is planning to bring before the Government in the coming weeks, aims to expedite the Bureau’s duties while equipping it with more legal powers to counter organised crime. The regulation allows the Bureau to settle assets declared as crime proceeds within two years, as opposed to the previous seven-year time frame.
The Bureau has been actively pursuing many prominent individuals within the Kinahan cartel and ‘The Family’ organised crime network, now termed as Ireland’s most prolific drug trafficking organisation, in recent times.
The bureau has stepped up its pursuit of lesser-known gang leaders nationwide, breaking previous records in active ongoing cases. The strategy of cracking down on mid-level criminals to prevent them from gaining further power was initiated by the previous head of Cab, Pat Clavin, with the current leader, Detective Chief Superintendent Michael Gubbins, maintaining the same stance after taking over from Clavin.
A record high of over €8.65 million, accumulated either through confiscation from criminals or revenue from selling off seized property, was handed over to the Exchequer by Cab in the past year – the greatest amount in the past decade and a half. Out of this sum, almost €2.2 million came from proceeds of crime cases, roughly €5.8 million resulted from tax claims and another €640,000 was recovered from social welfare.
For the revenue returned to the Exchequer in 2023, it should be noted that the figures do not include cases taken up by Cab in that year or in recent years, as most of these cases are still pendng resolution.