How IRA and the Troubles 'industrialised' people smuggling in Ireland

Collusion between loyalists in the criminal underworld and their one-time IRA enemies is now commonplace

For as long there has been a border on the island of Ireland, smugglers have exploited the lawless roads stretching from the South Armagh to North Louth region in the east, all the way to the Fermanagh frontier with Donegal in the Irish Republic in the west.

But smuggling in the region has evolved from a localised phenomenon to an international business that stretches from the hills, fields and back rural roads of the Irish borderlands to England, Europe and the far east. Alan McQuillan, a veteran Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) senior officer who became the last head of the UK's Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) said the Troubles and the Provisional IRA's South Armagh Brigade industrialised" smuggling.