Searches were carried out this morning in County Tipperary as well as in nine other counties across the country as part of an investigation into the illegal fuel trade.
The searches were part of a major investigation being carried out on both sides of the border targeting illegal fuel operations as well as a County Louth criminal gang suspected of being heavily involved in these operations.
Houses, warehouses and business premises were searched while computers, documents and bank statements were seized.
No operations were were made in the course of the operations.
The raids uncovered large quantities of cash at two of the locations.
A fuel-laundering plant with the capability of laundering several hundreds of thousands of litres of diesel was also discovered and could have cost the exchequer an estimated €5.5 million
