POLICE and customs on
both sides of the border are "working as one" to
combat the illegal activities of organised
criminals, a seminar has been told.
The Cross Border Crime Summit was held this week in
Enniskillen and was attended by Justice Minister
Dermot Ahern and Inishowen Senator Cecilia Keaveney.
"Arresting suspected fuel smugglers, seizing guns,
drugs and cash funded through criminal activity are
just some of the recent successes cross border
operations have enjoyed," said Senator Keaveney
following the summit.
She said such cross-border co-operation had already
yielded success.
"Cross border co-operation such as this has already
been instrumental in ensuring, to the greatest
extent possible, that the border cannot, and will
not, be used by criminals to evade the reach of law
enforcement.”
The Moville-based senator said Illegal activity
damaged legitimate businesses.
"Maintaining and further developing the already
excellent cross-border partnership that exists
between law enforcement agencies is vital to
increase our understanding and effective
investigation of organised crime.
"The threats on both sides of the border are, in
many cases, similar and with law enforcement
agencies working together we are meeting the
challenges with an effective response to organised
crime, whenever and wherever it surfaces,” she
added. |