Anti-racketeering unit targets IRA assets: Documents seized from homes and offices Inquiry linked to alleged IRA chief of staff

• Published in: The Guardian (London)
• Main Author: Angelique Chrisafis and David Ward
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: London (UK) Guardian News & Media Limited 07.10.2005
• Subjects: Craven, Dermot; Murphy, Thomas "Slab"
• ISSN: 0261-3077

The investigation is linked to the assets of Thomas "Slab" Murphy, a south Armagh farmer widely believed to be the IRA's chief of staff. Mr Murphy, 43, was named last year in the BBC's criminal rich list as the richest smuggler in the UK, with an estimated fortune of pounds 35-pounds 40m from cross-border cigarette and fuel smuggling. At around 11am, officers also raided Mr [Dermot Craven]'s home, a pounds 2m red-brick mansion in Bowdon, one of the most exclusive areas in Greater Manchester. The house, named Nithesdale, has security cameras at the front and back doors. Mr Craven, who runs marathons for local charities, has three children with his wife, Dawn. Thomas "Slab" Murphy , 43, is one of the most enigmatic and powerful figures in the republican movement. Allegedly the IRA's chief of staff since 1996 , he is believed to preside over a vast smuggling empire, moving fuel, cigarettes, cattle and grain across the border which runs straight through his 15-hectare farm at Hackballscross He demands complete loyalty from around 50 men on his payroll and had kept a low profile until a Sunday Times article in 1985 claimed he was involved in IRA bombing campaigns in Britain. Murphy sued, but after an 11-year libel battle he lost his case in 1998. Eight months later, the pivotal witness against Murphy, former IRA member Eamon Collins , was murdered. No one was charged with the killing.