Five people have been held overnight after being arrested as part of an investigation into a criminal gang impersonating gardaí across 15 counties.
Six searches were carried out in three counties yesterday as part of an operation being run out of Kilkenny Garda Station.
Five vehicles, three Rolex watches and €3,000 were seized among various other items of evidential value.
Four men, aged between their thirties and sixties, and one woman in her fifties were arrested and have been held overnight at separate stations across the region.
The development is the latest in the investigation into those pretending to be Guards and asking householders in rural areas if they could examine their cash to see if it’s counterfeit.
A number of such incidents have been reported locally in Carlow and Kilkenny in recent months.