Gardaí have broken up a major credit-card 'cloning and skimming' scam in Dublin.
They were alerted by UK police that a group was operating here using card reading devices inserted into ATMs and cloned credit cards.
Two men were identified on Bedford Lane in Dublin 2 on Thursday by gardaí who believed they were taking part in the scam.
One of the men tried to conceal a wallet that contained seven bank cards which were identified as cloned fraudulent cards.
The second man's wallet also contained five fraudulent cards.
Both men, who are in their 30s, were arrested and taken to Pearse Street Garda Station.
In a follow-up operation, a BMW SUV was searched and 13 fraudulent credit cards were found.
Designer clothing and a number of receipts for other expensive goods believed to have been purchased using cloned credit cards in the Dublin City area were also found by gardaí.
A search of a flat in the city was also conducted and a number of documents were seized.
Gardaí carried out subsequent searches in Tyrellstown, Navan Road and Prussia Street.
During these searches, 41 fraudulent bank cards along with re-encoding devices, a quantity of cocaine, a weighing scale and approximately €2,000 in cash were seized.
A total of 66 fraudulent credit cards were seized during the investigation which was assisted by the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB).
One man appeared in court yesterday and was remanded in custody.
A second man is due to appear in court today.
Gardaí say their investigations will continue with the help of specialist units together with Europol and other European Police forces.
