Up to 20 cattle dealers from around the Republic are expected to be charged under new legislation against so-called rogue dealers.
The charges are the culmination of an 18-month investigation headed by gardai in Mullingar - an inquiry which was widened into a nationwide examination - into alleged irregularities with cattle tags or "passports".
It appears a number of dealers were importing cattle from Northern Ireland and changing their tags to give the impression they were bona-fide "Irish", and they were exported as such.
Other alleged offences include fraudulent use of veterinary stamps to confirm an animal was TB-free, and claiming subsidies for animals that had been slaughtered but whose documentation had been illegally transferred to another animal.
The suspected smuggler implicated by gardai investigating the source of the Louth outbreak is among those arrested.
