Ireland is known to be home to major organised crime gangs and a conduit for the global drugs trade
Common money laundering techniques include the use of cash intensive businesses. Photo: Getty
Property investments and the use of webs of bogus companies are among the main techniques used by criminals to launder illicit profits that are now in the billions of euro, according to a major new report.
Europol, the EU’s cross-border police cooperation agency, says there are 821 significant organised crime groups operating within the bloc with a combined membership of around 25,000.