CAB seizes houses of fuel smuggler who had Galway operations

A CROSS-BORDER fuel smuggler who operated two filling stations in Galway City, has had two houses seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau. Patrick Belton from south Armagh — who was also known as David Belton in Galway — had the properties seized last Friday after a High Court Judge said he was satisfied Belton was a “prolific smuggler”.The houses at Inishkeen Co. Monaghan and in Dundalk, Co. Louth are understood to be worth in the region of €600,000.In 2004 and 2005, Mr Belton operated a filling station across from Merlin Park Hospital and another at Ballindooley on the Headford Road, offering cut price petrol and diesel. He abandoned the filling stations in March 2005 after our sister newspaper the Galway City Tribune revealed he was being targeted by customs officials, and had one of his fuel delivery lorries seized at Merlin Park on suspicion of carrying illegal 'washed’ diesel and kerosene that had been smuggled from across the Border.During that swoop, Gardaí and the Customs Service took a series of samples from delivery tankers and an underground storage tank. Belton had been.......................