Garda Launched 24 Crackdown On Foreign Criminals Operating In Ireland

Gardaí are taking part in a pan-European operation targeting organised crime and criminals from other countries currently operating in Ireland.

Operation Trivium operates for a 24 hour period between 23 and 24 November.

Gardaí will be utilising the 24 hour period to detect, disrupt and deter criminals, many of whom are operating as part of organised criminal gangs.

The operation has four key objectives:

• Disrupting criminality through denying foreign national mobile organised crime groups the use of the road;

• Increasing the understanding and intelligence of foreign national offenders from a crime and counter terrorism perspective;

• Enhancing levels of trust and confidence in local communities through delivering enforcement and educational activity that is designed to 'tackle criminality not the community;

• Ensuring that all avenues of legislation both criminal & civil are considered to disrupt, deter and detect unlawful behaviour.

These objectives will be underpinned by the following guiding principles:

• Making best use of the legislation and tactics available;

• Maximising partner intervention;

• Accounting for the need to achieve value for money in the action taken;

• Prioritising targeted action against those who have committed the most serious offences, or who present the greatest risk to the public;

• Emphasizing that the operation targets the criminals, not the community.

Trivium is a multi-agency road policing operation designed to tackle foreign national offenders and indigenous travelling criminals who utilise the road network to target local communities, many of whom are part of organised criminal gangs.

(MH/LM)