The largest ever number of containers filled with toxic diesel sludge have been discovered in Co Louth.
A total of 58,000 litres of the sludge were found in three separate locations around the county.
Customs officers discovered 34 large containers filled with toxic sludge during a planned search at Edentubber in Ravensdale.
In Balriggan, in the north of the county, council officials were alerted after another 20 containers were found abandoned in a gateway.
The third find was made near Dundalk close to a housing development.
The sludge will be brought to a safe location before being shipped to Germany for final treatment at a cost to the taxpayer of €40,000.
The sludge is the by-product of a fuel laundering process where criminal gangs wash the coloured dye from agricultural diesel before it is sold on as ordinary road fuel.
