Border smugglers are laughing up their sleeves at customs' officials after a bungled attempt to stop fuel laundering.
A vehicle driven by the Irish customs' service, carrying a huge tank on a trailer just seized in a major raid, was hijacked and set on fire in South Armagh last week.
The cheeky smugglers then telephoned Irish customs' officials. "They said the equipment was in perfect working order when customs seized it and we had been careless with it," said a source.
"They said they hoped we were insured as they were planning to claim for major damage to their property."
And the Sunday World can reveal that last month smugglers drove a tanker carrying illegal fuel through customs at the same spot where the trailer was burned on the Blaney Road near Crossmaglen.
"The smugglers are clearly winning," said a local republican. "They're making the customs, the PSNI and gardai look stupid.
"The trailer burnt last week was carrying the biggest tank ever seen around here. It was part of a massive fuel laundering outfit."
Sources said an Irish customs' driver had his vehicle rammed by a tractor and he was then surrounded by four cars. A gang of unmasked men got out of the cars holding petrol cans.
The shocked official ran off in fear of his life and the vehicle was then set on fire. The hijacking took place not far from premises linked to two leading members of the Provisional IRA. "It wouldn't have happened without their say so," said the source.
Dozens of police from Newry and Armagh flooded the area after the hijacking was well over.
Irish customs had seized the tank, 37,000 litres of laundered diesel, and other equipment in a raid near Castleblaney, Co Monaghan. The driver, who was being followed by some of the smugglers and their associates, accidentally took a wrong turn and ended up in South Armagh.
Willie Frazer of IRA victims' group FAIR said: "Where else in the world would the authorities seize an asset and then lose it almost immediately? There is no law and order in South Armagh. It's sill bandit country down here."
The Co Monaghan laundering plant could process 20 million litres of fuel a year, netting €10 million for the smugglers and costing the Irish exchequer €11 million in lost duty.
