GARDAI are investigating after a laptop and documents belonging to a garda were discovered in a brothel in Amsterdam.

It is understood that a worker at the establishment discovered a bag in the Dutch capital.

She then contacted the Netherlands police who subsequently made contact with the gardai.

The bag reportedly contained a laptop and documents as well as an "insignia" that allegedly identified the owner as being a member of An Garda Siochana.

Europol, the law enforcement agency, have been called in for assistance in the investigation.

The laptop and bag has been returned to garda headquarters in the Phoenix Park using a secure postal system.

The high-level investigation will probe how the individual's bag was found in the brothel and if it had been reported stolen by the garda in question.

SECURITY

There are fears that some security may have been compromised due to sensitive data on the computer.

According to a report in the Sunday World, the officer who is understood to be the owner of the bag is highly experienced. He has not yet been questioned over the incident.

It's not the first time that potentially sensitive material belonging to the gardai has gone missing, was lost or turned up elsewhere.

In 2008, a file containing documents relating to criminals embroiled in a feud in Crumlin/Drimnagh was stolen from the car park of Blackrock Garda Station in Dublin.

It was photocopied and sent to a newspaper which meant that several individuals were forced to leave home because their addresses were compromised.

In another incident in 2010, a senior officer asked one of his colleagues to take documents to a be photocopied before they were issued to the DPP.

The files in question related to members of Eamon 'The Don' Dunne.

PUBLIC

However, the document containing extremely confidential material was brought to a photocopying shop in Dublin's city centre where a member of the public read some of the sensitive information.

This person then contacted the man named in the document.

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