Gardaí have identified 1,600 people linked to an international gang specialising in fraud and money laundering in the Republic, including 100 members responsible for its direction.
Though the amount of money confirmed stolen and laundered by the Black Axe gang in Ireland has now reached almost €100 million, gardaí believe the true figure is much higher.
Some members of the Garda believe the scale of the Black Axe gang’s activities means it is generating profits in Ireland that rival the domestic drugs trade, perhaps even surpassing it.
The Irish Times has learned that while the Black Axe gang in Ireland initially specialised in laundering large sums of money via the Irish…