Two people are to be deported from the State after being refused "leave to land" following a major cross-border policing operation.
Gardaí conducted a major multi-agency checkpoint on the N1/M1 in Dundalk, Co Louth today.
Over the course of four hours, all southbound traffic was diverted at Junction 18 onto a slip road where the checkpoint was in place.
The high-visibility operation involved co-operation between gardaí and the PSNI, who conducted a number of high-visibility vehicle checkpoints on the Northern Ireland side of the border.
The operation, with a focus on tackling rural crime and human trafficking, was aimed at preventing and detecting criminality along the border.
The Garda National Immigration Bureau carried out checks on ten buses and two people were refused "leave to land" and will be deported.
Meanwhile, the Department of Social Protection identified 16 people for whom it wishes to carry out further enquiries.
Revenue Customs officers also detected marked gas oil being unlawfully used in six vehicles, one of which was seized.
There were four detections of motorists driving under the influence of cocaine or cannabis while a number of other vehicles were seized for having no tax or insurance, or for other road traffic offences.
The operation was led by gardaí from the Louth/Cavan/Monaghan Division, who were assisted by the Garda Air Support Unit, Armed Support Unit, Garda National Immigration Bureau and the Garda Human Trafficking Investigation Unit, alongside officials from Revenue Customs and the Department of Social Protection.
Sergeant Declan Higgins, of the Louth Roads Policing Unit, said: "What we're trying to do is prevent criminals from using our road network.
"The checkpoint is also part of the road safety initiative of An Garda Síochána, we're targeting drink and drug drivers and also people driving without insurance."
PSNI Chief Inspector Adam Corner said: "We are proud to be involved in this JATF (Joint Action Task Force) operation with our colleagues in An Garda Síochána.
"We are utilising a number of PSNI resources in order to control the strategic road network to deny criminals the use of the road.
"Criminals are looking to exploit our border region and border communities and it's through working with An Garda Síochána, sharing information, [that] we will relentlessly pursue those looking to cause misery and those who look to commit crime in the border area," he added.
The JATF is led by senior officers from An Garda Síochána, the PSNI and other key agencies, including revenue services on both sides of the border and the UK's National Crime Agency.
The taskforce is focused on tackling tobacco and fuel smuggling, synthetic drugs, human trafficking, rural crime, financial crime and immigration.
