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Raids shut down red diesel racket
Page 6
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• A multi-million-pound fuel laundering operation has been uncovered by Customs officers in Northern Ireland, the North-West and Herefordshire.
Nine people were arrested and a suspected fuel laundering plant in St Helens, Lanes was dismantled.
A stockpile of laundered fuel and 30,000 litres of paraffin (which is often blended with laundered diesel) was found at the site.
The operation, codenamed Joyless, involved 45 Customs officers who were supported by police officers during the raids over the weekend.
Customs spokesman Bill O'Leary says: "In recent months fuel laundering plants have been found in Essex, Wales and the NorthEast. It's a problem throughout the UK."
He adds that diesel produced by the plants would not only have damaged engines: the highly toxic by-products would have caused environmental problems.
The nine people arrested have been released on bail. One of them came from Northern Ireland and another from the Wirral; the remaining seven people, who include a woman, were arrested in Floss-on-Wye.
On Monday (2 September) three people from Northern Ireland appeared before Cardiff magistrates charged with fuel laundering offences.