Gardaí have uncovered a second major industrial premises of suspected stolen machinery inside a week during a planned raid on a commercial unit on the outskirts of Longford town.
Industrial plant, tools and other equipment worth an estimated €150,000 were discovered at a unit located in the Shroid area shortly before 5pm.
Among the items retrieved were an Ifor Williams horsebox, two mini-diggers, two tarmac rollers and two dump trucks.
The raid was carried out by uniformed and detective branch officers from the Granard and Longford Garda Districts as well as members from the Garda Stolen Motor Vehicle Investigation Unit.
It is the second large discovery made by gardaí into the theft of suspected machinery in the county over the past seven days.
Gardaí believe the discovery represents a major breakthrough as part of an inquiry involving senior personnel from the London Metropolitan Police and other police forces in the UK.
Supt Brian Mohan confirmed Wednesday’s find was linked to the earlier discovery and would form part of an ongoing investigation into the theft of high value commercial and industrial plant machinery.