Presently, law enforcement in Ireland is confiscating enormous amounts of cash from drug gangs, which mirrors the altering state of organised crime within the country. In fact, the amount of money reclaimed and returned to the treasury by the primary anti-drug force is, at instances, equivalent to the contributions of the Criminal Assets Bureau (Cab).
Such large sums, usually discovered in vacuum-sealed bundles of cash, are often attributed to the restructured landscape of Irish crime following the elimination of the Kinahan cartel’s Irish connections based on nearly a decade worth of investigations into the Kinahan-Hutch conflict. According to insiders, some local gangs that profited from the cartel’s downfall are not as skilled in consistently relocating and sanitising drug dealing proceeds.
The Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB), a body responsible for combating all aspects of drug trade and broader organised crime, recently returned €3 million in seized cash to the treasury once various legal proceedings against the involved criminals were concluded. In some years, this sum is equivalent to Cab’s contribution, even though the Bureau has returned significantly larger sums in other years.
Cab, established in the 1990s, focuses explicitly on confiscating criminal assets. They must build a case against their subjects and present evidence to the High Court to prove the assets they aim to seize are indeed crime proceeds. Conversely, the GNDOCB routinely uncovers significant amounts of money during raids which are then seized, and subsequently forfeited after the end of criminal proceedings.
Since its inception in 2015, the GNDOCB has recovered and returned €20 million in cash to the treasury. These funds have been located in a relatively small number of substantial seizures, in addition to consistent seizures of smaller values.
“The sum of €20 million that has been deposited into the exchequer account post the completion of legal procedures principally comes from drug smuggling activities,” proclaimed Det Chief Supt Seamus Boland, the chief of GNDOCB. “This represents a share of the money given by those involved in sporadic drug consumption nationwide.
Every penny of this money is used to support serious crimes and organised criminal networks, resulting in increased drug distribution, violence and drug-related threats. Demand nurtures supply.
An Garda Síochána, via the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau, will persist in its efforts to target, disrupt and dismantle high-risk criminal networks that pose a threat to community safety,” he continued.
In a formal statement, Garda Headquarters disclosed that the confiscated money came from drug transactions by individuals “suffering from permanent drug addiction” and those engaging in recreational drug use. The statement emphasised the direct link between local drug purchases and the human suffering and devastation caused by related crime and the funding of significant drug traffickers.
The recent upswing in cash confiscations has resulted in an extraordinary rise in arrests related to money laundering in the Republic. Data from last month demonstrated that the number of arrests for money laundering during the first nine months in 2024 equals the total for the entire previous year. By the end of the year, the number of arrests is expected to be in the range of 650 to 700, marking a tenfold increase from 2018.
According to Garda sources, arrests for money laundering are on the rise due to increased efforts by An Garda Síochána to identify and investigate these cases. Although earlier investigations primarily targeted groups engaged in the drug trade using drugs and firearms, current probes now place significant emphasis on money laundering.