Garda raid links rural Leitrim to billion-dollar laundering network

A Garda search of a property in Co Leitrim has been identified as part of a global investigation into a sophisticated money-laundering network linked to drug cartels and sanctioned Russian financial channels.

The network, now under investigation by the Gardaí, the UK National Crime Agency and international partners across Europe and the United States, is believed to have laundered funds on behalf of major criminal organisations, including the Kinahan cartel.

Investigators say the operation was so advanced it went as far as purchasing a bank in Kyrgyzstan as part of efforts to bypass international sanctions and move illicit funds to support Russia’s military activity.

Irish authorities confirmed that almost €2 million in cash has been recovered domestically since 2023 as part of the probe. Of this, €1.36 million was seized during 2025 alone through a series of coordinated Garda operations.

Sources close to the investigation said Ireland was not peripheral to the scheme, but instead functioned as a key logistical hub, with activity increasingly concentrated in north Dublin and parts of Leitrim.

The investigation, known as Operation Destabilise, escalated significantly on 14 October, when officers from the Garda Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (GDOCB) carried out simultaneous searches at four homes across north Dublin and neighbouring Leitrim.

During those searches, Gardaí recovered €383,000 in cash and arrested two men and two women, all aged in their 30s.

Investigators believe those arrests disrupted an active cash movement route used by the wider laundering system and targeted individuals suspected of facilitating the transport of high-value currency across regions.

These raids followed a series of earlier high-value seizures in Dublin this year. On 9 April, GDOCB officers, supported by Revenue Customs, intercepted two suspected money couriers at Dublin Airport, seizing €342,000 in cash.

On 23 April, officers stopped a vehicle in west Dublin, recovering €638,000 and arresting a man in his 30s.

To date, seven individuals in Ireland have been arrested and charged, and all cases are currently progressing through the courts.

A separate case saw Russian courier Igor Logvinov sentenced to three years’ imprisonment in July 2023, with €57,200 in drug trafficking proceeds formally forfeited to the State.

A Garda spokesperson said:

“This investigation is part of an ongoing international operation targeting serious organised crime groups involved in complex money laundering structures. An Garda Síochána continues to work closely with international partners to disrupt and dismantle these networks. Investigations remain ongoing.”

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