Fuel smugglers to lose assets
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• A Northern Ireland agency is set to pursue the assets of criminals involved in smuggling illegal fuel from the Republic.
The Criminal Assets Recovery Agency will be modelled on the successful Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) in the Republic; as soon as the necessary legislation is passed it will seek to seize assets where an individual's lifestyle is not explicable by declared income.
Nearly 80 organised gangs have been identified in Northern Ireland. Many are involved in VAT scams, the smuggling of drugs, cigarettes and diesel, and diesel laundering.
Diesel currently sells for IR6Op (50p) a litre in the South compared with 79p in the North. More than 200 fuel retailers in Northern Ireland have left the major oil companies and are now independents buying fuel directly from wholesalers.
In the same period BP has slashed its network in Northern Ireland from 98 outlets to 51, though BP says this is not related to the amount of illegal fuel reaching the market. Shell has cut its network from 50 outlets to 40.