Farms and houses across Ireland are being searched as part of a probe into suspected contamination of horse meat.
Seven locations in Roscommon, Leitrim, Sligo, Westmeath and Kilkenny were being searched on Thursday morning.
Investigators suspect that meat from horses that should have been destroyed, and not used for human consumption, may have been processed and exported abroad.
Officers don't believe that any of the meat, which was possibly contaminated, was sold in Ireland.
The National Bureau of Criminal Investigation carried out the raids as part of the ongoing investigation.
The probe is looking into deception offences, which involve the fraudulent practices of tampering with the identification passports and microchips of horses.
The NBCI was assisted by officials from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Food Safety Authority of Ireland in the searches.
A statement added: "The searches are part of an ongoing investigation being conducted by members of The Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation into offences of deception pursuant to Section 6 of the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud) Offences Act, 2001 surrounding fraudulent practices regarding tampering of identification passports and microchips of horses presented for slaughter in this jurisdiction.
"This is a Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation led operation supported by officers from, Criminal Assets Bureau, Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau and Garda National Cyber Crime Bureau."
