Vol. 572 No. 4
202 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of organised crime gangs currently operating in this jurisdiction; the success to date in combating this activity; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23643/03]
I am informed by the Garda authorities that a situation report on Irish organised crime groups for 2002, which is currently being analysed at EUROPOL, indicated that there were 17 major organised crime groups in the jurisdiction.
In 1996, the development of the multi-agency approach under the Criminal Assets Bureau marked a turning point in the tackling of organised crime in Ireland. The bureau has had considerable success in its role to deprive organised crime groups of assets which were shown to be the proceeds of their criminal activities. Several of the major organised crime groups have been targeted by the CAB and a considerable number of criminals have had property confiscated and their wealth taxed.
The CAB is effective across a broad spectrum of criminal activity. During 2002, for example, more than a dozen organised crime groups were investigated. Nearly half of these groups were involved in drugs trafficking and about a third were involved in armed robberies-aggravated burglaries. There investigations also focused on protection rackets, diesel smuggling, cigarette smuggling, VAT carousel fraud and social welfare offences.
The establishment of specialist Garda units such as the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Criminal Assets Bureau, the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation and the Garda national drugs unit, operating under an assistant commissioner in charge of national support service, has also enabled the Garda Síochána to tackle organised crime effectively.
For instance, the Garda national drugs unit plays a crucially important role in the efforts to combat drug trafficking. Operations are designed to target the supply of drugs to the Irish market and the transit of drugs through Ireland. The unit co-operates with a wide range of international law enforcement agencies and provides significant levels of support to international agencies and the domestic customs service alike.
The success of the unit can be gauged by the increase in the street value of drugs seizures in recent years: €20 million in 2000; €45 million in 2001; €49 million in 2002. Other smaller units, including the money laundering investigation unit and a unit dealing with theft of computer components, have also had success in combating the activities of organised criminals.
The money laundering investigation unit, which is attached to the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation, is involved in the investigation of suspicious transaction disclosure reports. Investigations of reports are carried out by the unit itself or may be forwarded to the CAB.
Local Garda detective units throughout the country are also involved in such investigations. As a result of the unit's close co-operation with the CAB and local units, a number of actions have been taken against criminal assets.
