Number of CAB 'targets' in Mayo is revealed

The Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) is investigating 1,450 targets across the country and abroad, new figures show.

They include three in Mayo, the smallest number of any district in the country.

In an interview with the Irish Independent, chief bureau officer Detective Chief Superintendent Michael Gubbins said that since the bureau was established in 1996, it had recovered more than €210m for the State.

So far this year, Cab has carried out 20 search operations around the country.

Many involved raids at multiple sites as part of the same investigation, and the agency’s boss expects that figure to double before the end of the year.

"In some cases, these searches may involve the engagement of a quantity surveyor or there are instances in which it is simply documentation that’s seized,” he said.