International links urged to fight money-laundering

International police co-operation is urgently needed to combat organised crime, the head of the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation said yesterday.

Det Chief Supt Sean Camon told delegates that a number of "small, well-established and tightly structured groups" control organised crime in Ireland.

But these gangs had "become increasingly active in the international area". Foreign criminals had visited Ireland to make contacts and Irish criminals living abroad had made international contacts.

"The nature of crime has also changed, with criminals becoming much more violent and professional, thus resulting in more complex investigations." One of the targets of organised crime gangs in recent years had been stealing computer parts, Chief Supt Camon said. The National Bureau of Criminal Investigation had set up a computer investigation unit last year. As a result "£12 million worth of stolen computer components have been recovered", he said.

"The number of organised crime groups in this country can be divided into two general categories. The first is a small number of groups which are well-established, tightly-structured, involved in drug trafficking and armed robbery. Our second consists of criminal associates who come together from time to time on an ad-hoc basis to commit crime." Det Insp Terry McGinn, of the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation, said the recent successful prosecution of Swiss national Maria-Bernadette Jehle had "sent a message that Ireland will not be used as a haven for money-laundering". Opening the two-day conference Assistant Commissioner Kevin Carty said the global drugs trade was estimated to be worth $400 billion annually, with another $100 billion earned in other types of crime, making an estimated $500 billion as the amount of money to be laundered annually.

"Money-launderers, unlike criminals who use them, do not leave dead or drugged bodies in their wake." Their activities resulted in companies backed by "crooked cash" being able to undercut honest companies. And the crime of money-laundering "poses a great threat to Ireland, the European community and broader society".

US Treasury Department Special Agent Stan Travers spoke about money-laundering investigation and asset seizure. The US laws on assets seizure are similar to recent Irish legislation, placing the burden on suspected criminals to prove the assets are not the proceeds of crime.