Diesel laundering revealed
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• by Brendan Nolan
Another diesel laundering plant making profits of at least 111E50,000 a week has been seized by Irish Customs.
This plant, near Dundalk, which was in operation when raided by Customs officials with armed back-up from the Garda, could generate up to 200,000 litres of diesel every week. There were 60,000 litres found on the premises.
Vehicles and people entering and leaving the plant had been monitored for months before the raid. It is similar in size and operation to one shut down three months ago in a neighbouring county.
Marked, rebated diesel was brought from Northern Ireland to the plant where the dye was extracted from the diesel, so that it could be sold on to unsuspecting end users as road diesel.
Sulphuric and hydrochloric acid are used to wash dye from the diesel. The acids reacts with the marked diesel and the diesel and acid become separate liquid layers. The dye migrates to the acid layer and leaves the diesel oil dye-free.
However, it is quite usual for traces of the acids to be found in the washed diesel, and for it to cause damage to engines using the fuel, say Customs experts.