A cross-border stolen-car "scam" involving the fraudulent use of stolen blank vehicle registration books has been broken by gardaí in Dundalk.
The fraud involved the theft by criminals in the North of hundreds of thousands of euro worth of vehicles - including BMWs, Mercedes and four-wheel drives - which were then taken into the Republic and sold to unsuspecting buyers.
The gang behind the operation would then fill in the blank vehicle registration book with the correct chassis number of the vehicle, but use a false registration number and take it through customs with paperwork which appeared to be correct and above board.
Once a customs clearance certificate had been issued, the stolen vehicle was then sold on, often to innocent people in the Republic.
One vehicle, a Land Rover, was stolen in England and located in Kildare. Other vehicles ended up being sold, and subsequently seized by gardaí, throughout the midlands and Border counties.
The investigation was led by Sgt Brian Mohan, who said: "The gardaí in Dundalk began this investigation earlier this year and to date we have seized nearly 30 vehicles which were illegally imported into the State. In some cases they had been sold to unsuspecting members of the public."
Many of the recovered vehicles are just a few months old and worth thousands of euro. Gardaí in Dundalk recently seized a new Ford Transit van that was only bought by its legitimate owner last month and stolen earlier this month.
The gang are based on both sides of the Border. "A joint gardaí-PSNI investigation is still ongoing, and will be for some time, in order to secure convictions against those involved," Sgt Mohan said.
So far 26 cars and vans have been identified and seized in counties Louth, Monaghan, Donegal, Leitrim, Kildare and Longford. Most were sold through publications specialising in second-hand cars.
"Buyers of second-hand vehicles should be particularly cautious if they are asked to import the vehicle themselves," the Garda advised.
One man in his 30s, from Co Monaghan, was arrested in recent days and a file is being prepared for the DPP.