Anti-racketeering agencies in the Republic and Northern Ireland carried out raids in Manchester and Dundalk yesterday in an operation aimed at damaging the suspected multi-million pound empire of the IRA's alleged chief of staff Thomas "Slab" Murphy, write Gerry Moriarty and Conor Lally, and Colm Keena in Manchester.
The North's Assets Recovery Agency, with support from Manchester police and the Criminal Assets Bureau (Cab) in the South, assisted by gardaí, searched domestic and business premises respectively in Manchester and Dundalk.
Between four and five properties, including a leading Manchester property agency, were searched. A large amount of documentation was seized in the Manchester raids.
Cab raided the offices of seven premises, including legal and financial firms in Dundalk, Co Louth. Detectives took away around 50 boxes of documentation for examination, well-placed sources confirmed.
They also confirmed that the main focus of their inquiries is 56-year-old Thomas "Slab" Murphy, whom senior security sources have identified as IRA chief of staff, and a republican who has allegedly amassed a multi-million pound fortune through cross- border smuggling.
He lives near Hackballscross on a farm straddling the Border between counties Louth and Armagh, which reputedly has facilitated his smuggling operations that are believed to go back to the 1970s.
The BBC's Underworld Rich List says he has accumulated up to £40 million through smuggling oil, cigarettes, grain and pigs.
The Assets Recovery Agency, Cab, gardaí and the PSNI now hope the dozens of boxes of documents seized in the two operations will open up a paper trail that will lead to the undermining or ultimate demolition of Murphy's alleged empire. If the evidence is found, the next step in the operation is likely to be High Court applications in the UK and the Republic from the Assets Recovery Agency and Cab to freeze and seize Murphy's property.
While Murphy is said to be the IRA's chief of staff, senior Garda sources said there was no evidence to suggest that his wealth was now being used for anything other than personal purposes.
Searches were continuing in Manchester late last night in relation to a property portfolio of 250 houses which is believed to be worth about £30 million. Among the properties searched was that of the Craven Group, which is run by Manchester businessman Dermot Craven, a director and shareholder in a large number of property-related companies.
In these companies Mr Craven (44) is a business partner of Brian Gerald Pepper (31), who gives a number of addresses, including Britannia Road, Sale, Cheshire, and addresses in Dundalk, Co Louth. Mr Pepper describes himself as a property trader and company director.
A solicitor for the Craven Group said last night that it was assisting the agency in its inquiries. "We wish to emphasise that this is a civil inquiry and no wrongdoing is suggested against the group or any of its staff. As far as the group is concerned it is business as usual starting tomorrow morning," he said.
In the Republic, Cab believes it has identified a residential property portfolio in Dundalk valued at up to €4 million owned or controlled by Murphy, sources said.
The operation against Murphy comes less than two weeks after the IRA decommissioned its weapons, raising the potential for a political deal to restore devolution sometime next year if it is confirmed it has ceased all paramilitary and criminal activity.
Should these current investigations point to continuing directly-related IRA criminal activity it could jeopardise the prospects of restoring the Northern Executive and Assembly.
Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams, who met British Prime Minister Tony Blair in Downing Street yesterday, dismissed the searches as being motivated by a "political agenda".