A man was in custody in Northern Ireland tonight after two more illegal fuel laundering plants and distribution network were uncovered and dismantled.
The plants, discovered in farm buildings in the Washingbay area of Coalisland, Co Tyrone, were seized along with storage equipment, two vehicles and 8,000 litres of laundered diesel.
Simultaneous searches of a filling station and a transport company in the Coalisland area resulted in the seizure of another 23,000 litres of fuel.
The man arrested was a local from the area.
The operation was carried out jointly by HM Revenue and Customs and the PSNI.
Anne-Marie Gordon, HMRC head of investigation in Northern Ireland said: “This HMRC and PSNI operation shows how joint working, as part of the Organised Crime Task Force, has stopped a substantial amount of harmful diesel entering the legitimate fuel market and effecting honest businesses.”
She said the joint initiative was part of their ongoing activity to detect not only the smuggling and laundering of illegal fuel, but also the onward transport and sale of it through commercial outlets across Northern Ireland.
Ms Gordon added: “People need to be aware of the environmental and safety issues surrounding laundering plants.
“They need to consider what happens to the waste by-product and the damage caused by contamination to arable land and our water and rivers.”
PA