Gardaí are continuing searches in the east of the country today as part of an investigation into a stolen-car racket.
Four men are in custody after being arrested last evening in connection with a six-month inquiry into the stealing of luxury cars to order. The men can be held for 72 hours from the time of their arrest.
Two of the men, all of whom are non-nationals, are being held at Naas, while the two others are being detained at Newbridge Garda Station. The men understood to be Italian, Syrian and two Lebanese.
They were arrested after a raid on a warehouse in Colbinstown, near Kilcullen, Co Kildare, yesterday and searches of houses in Dublin.
The warehouse raid revealed dozens of executive class cars, most of which had been dismantled and packaged into containers. The cars, including BMWs and Mercedes, are valued at around €250,000 and it is believed the scam may have generated up to €3 million to date.
A Garda source said the vehicles, including high-powered motorbikes, were being stolen to order by Irish criminals for export to the eastern Europe were they are used for spare parts.
A large amount of documentation including export records were found in yesterday's searches and are being studied by detectives.
Gardaí at Blanchardstown have been investigating a spate of car thefts Dublin and surrounding counties in the past eight months. The thieves method is steal keys from homes and drive the cars away undamaged.