Gardaí have swooped on five addresses in Dublin, as part of investigations into a suspected ice cream van money laundering racket.

The raids happened yesterday on Dublin's southside, but details are only emerging now.

It is understood the searches were part of an investigation into a well-known associate of a gangster shot in Spain last month.

Crime Reporter with the Irish Daily Mirror Cathal McMahon says some ice cream vans are being linked with criminal activity.

He said: "These are travelling outside Dublin selling ice creams.

"Now it's not to suggest they are selling drugs from the vans, but merely that they may be being used to launder cash, and this is what Gardaí are looking to investigate. It is one aspect of it."