Laundered diesel is seized in Cootehill

Motorists are being warned that very low diesel prices could signal that the fuel on sale at a particular station may not be a legitimate product. The warning came from a customs spokesman, who told the Anglo Celt this week, that dozens of engines have been ruined in Co. Cavan in recent months by dodgy fuel. The caution followed a major crackdown by customs last week of filling stations suspected of selling laundered diesel on both sides of the border, during which a filling station in County Cavan was raided by Customs Officers. 'Last Wednesday Revenue Enforcement Officers raided a fuel filling station at Cootehill and removed approximately 14,000 litres of laundered diesel from an underground storage tank at the premises. The laundered diesel, propertly known as marked mineral oil (MMO), which has a reduced rate of excise duty for agricultural purposes, was being sold as auto diesel,' according to a Revenue Enforcement spokesperson this week. The operation by Customs on this side of the border was simultaneous to planned raids by by Northern Ireland Customs on related Filling stations in Lurgan, County Armagh and in Belfast, and fuel was drained from storage tanks and was taken away for analysis. Receipts and other paperwork was bagged as evidence and it is believed that the same man operated all of the outlets hit. They had been selling diesel at cheaper prices that other stations and this aroused suspicion and Teams of Customs decided to strike at these locations on Wednesday of last week. The day-long operation in the North involved 85 customs officers and PSNI officers. In a follow up operation a load of poisonous waste from diesel laundering was found dumped near Ardee on Sunday. The trailer contained larger volumes of a tar like residue, the result of what is left over after the fuel is "cleaned" of either red or green dye. It is the second such trailer found in the last week. Here in the Republic, the green diesel sells for around 65 cent per litre, compared to about €1.10 for auto diesel. In the North the red diesel sells for about 70 pence a litre and auto diesel is about £1.09.