Gardai arrest man following fatal shooting Killing puts gangland death toll at 22

Sunday October 31 2010

GardaI have arrested a man as part of an investigation following a fatal shooting in Louth on Friday night. The man in his mid 20s was arrested in the Dublin area at 5.30pm yesterday on suspicion of aggravated burglary.

The incident occurred at 11pm on Friday when a group of four men from Dublin forced their way into a house on the Sliabh Breagh estate outside Ardee, Co Louth, to confront two other men.

There was a fight in which two of the men were shot. A samurai sword is also thought to have been used in the incident in which a 20-year-old north Dubliner became the city's 22nd gang shooting victim this year, and the second murder victim in two days.

Another man had his finger chopped off in the incident.

Stephen Hanaphy, of Cromcastle Court, Coolock, who was hit by a single shot in the chest, collapsed and died under a tree on a green area about 300 metres from the house after what appears to have been hand-to-hand fighting.

Gardai believe the victim travelled to the town with three other men from the Coolock area on Friday evening. The gardai have a report of shots and fighting at around 11pm in the Sliabh Breagh area. However, Mr Hanaphy's body was not discovered until nearly 5am.

Around the same time the body was discovered, another man in his 20s -- also from Coolock -- presented at Beaumont Hospital with a gunshot wound. It is understood he had also had a finger cut off.

Gardai suspect that Mr Hanaphy and his associates may have been on their way to a meeting when they were surprised and attacked by members of a criminal gang from the Louth area.

The gang suspects have links to other gangs involved in drugs and other crime in the Midlands.

The killing follows that of 30-year-old Robert Ryle, of Blackditch Road, Ballyfermot, Dublin, who died on Wednesday from gunshot wounds he received when he was shot by a lone gunman at a house in the Ronanstown area.

Ryle, a convicted bank robber and drug dealer, was an associate of bothers Kenneth and Paul Corbally -- who were shot dead in Ballyfermot in May. It is believed members of a rival gang were responsible for both sets of killings. Gardai are currently concerned that more killings and attacks are likely to arise from several feuds in Dublin and increasing tension in Limerick.

Gardai are still looking for a taxi driver who carried a male passenger from Ardee to Dublin shortly after 11pm on Friday. The driver is asked to contact local gardai or the Garda Confidential Line on 1800-666-111.

- JIM CUSACK

Sunday Independent

Thompson pressing dealers to pay debts

Irish Herald
Thompson pressing dealers to pay debts


Saturday October 30 2010

GANG bosses ‘Fat’ Freddie Thompson and Wayne Dundon held meetings to discuss flooding Ireland with drugs. The notorious pair held a summit in Britain with a view to taking over from Christy Kinahan's drugs empire.

Kinahan was Ireland's chief cocaine supplier and the leaders of Limerick and Dublin's most high profile gangs have discussed joining forces to flood Ireland with drugs. Christy Kinahan, aka ‘The Dapper Don’, is currently in prison in Spain as authorities move against him for drug trafficking and money laundering.

He can be held in custody for up to four years as the Spanish police build a case against him. Thompson and Dundon met in Britain to discuss their plans. Dundon was staying there to get away from the heavy Garda surveillance he was under in Limerick.

Thompson, on the other hand, has spent the last few months jumping from Holland, the UK, Amsterdam and Spain to avoid police forces across Europe.

A European Arrest Warrant has been issued for Thompson and his associate Gary Hutch for their knowledge of Kinahan's billion-euro drug empire and the murder of hitman Paddy Doyle in Estepona, Spain, in 2008.

He can be arrested on sight by any police service, including the gardai, but has evaded capture up until now.

During his last visit to Dublin, he was seen socialising with his long-term girlfriend and also oversaw the equipping of his gang to ward off any extortion bids from the Real IRA in Dublin.

He also paid a visit to a number of mid-level drug dealers who owe him money as he reportedly owes money to a highly dangerous Russian criminal outfit.

In one incident, he told a drug dealer who owed him over €10,000 that he would burn down his partner's home with her and her son inside if he didn't come up with the money.

Weapons

Thompson is understood to have organised a shipment of weapons into the city in case members of his own gang were targeted by the north Dublin Real IRA cell that is extorting money from major drug dealers.

The weapons haul was discovered by gardai in the capital.

The homes of two of Thompson's chief lieutenants, who had been told by 'Fat' Freddie to protect the deadly arsenal, were raided by gardai but nothing was found.

One of the men, a 26-year-old, is suspected of being the gunman who botched a hit on Martin Foley in 2008.

The erratic gangster is from the Clanbrassil Street area of Dublin and is a longtime associate of Thompson.

Although he is a very active member of Thompson's gang, he does not have many criminal convictions.

However, he is the chief suspect for the shooting of Foley in January 2008 and was arrested over this attack but not prosecuted.

Foley was shot twice in the chest as he drove out of the Carlisle Health and Fitness Gym in Kimmage.

He was approached by a gunman wielding a semi-automatic machine pistol and eight shots were fired into his car. Two struck him in the lower chest and one grazed his head, but he survived.

The second is regarded as Thompson's eyes and ears in Dublin, and is considered his closest confidant and chief lieutenant, and the man who directs his operation in Dublin while his boss is in exile.

The gangster, in his early 30s, is from the Dublin 8 area.

The Real IRA gang that Thompson was guarding against is reputed to have extorted over €400,000 from Dublin drug dealers this year and targeted some of the capital's most dangerous figures.

Assassination

The gang, headed by two brothers from Donaghmede, is suspected of being behind an assassination attempt on Eamonn Dunne's close friend Brian O'Reilly.

Brian O'Reilly (41), from Bettystown, was warned of a threat against his life at the same time as Kelly.

The Don's gang have been the chief target of the north Dublin Real IRA unit trying to extort money from Dublin's most notorious crime figures. They ordered the crime brothers to pay them €50,000 or they would kill them.

The dissident republicans are the chief suspects in the shooting of O'Reilly in August and the failed assassination attempt on the Don's mentor Eamonn Kelly.

hnews@herald.ie

Gardai fear bloody mob war after split in Don's drugs gang

Irish Herald
Gardai fear bloody mob war after split in Don's drugs gang


By Cormac Byrne

Friday October 29 2010

THE Don's drug gang has split after godfather Eamonn Kelly's money man and his wife were shot at in their home.

The couple were attacked by three men after two brothers paid €60,000 for a criminal transaction which was not carried out.

According to sources, the west Dublin crime brothers paid Eamonn Kelly the money to fund a plot that involved one of the Real IRA brothers from north Dublin responsible for extorting money from Dublin drug dealers.

Gardai are fearful that the shocking gun attack could spark a gang war within factions of the gang once run by slain gangster Eamonn 'The Don' Dunne. The attack took place in September at a house in Malahide, during an armed raid on the property.

One criminal entered the house, followed by an associate, as a third stood watch at the door.

The target was speaking to his son on his mobile phone when the men entered.

He was brought into the kitchen and placed on the floor with his wife and a shot was fired over the couple.

His son, who had heard the start of the argument between the men, rushed to the scene and barged in on the men, driving them from the house.

They fled the scene in a black car and fired shots at the house as they escaped.

The target and his wife were left very shaken but were unharmed.

A source told the Herald the row was over money which was transferred between the parties for the purpose of carrying out "criminal business" with members of the INLA, which also involved a north Dublin Real IRA faction.

"These brothers gave the money to Kelly, who was to use it to hire an INLA mob, who in turn were to have dealings with a Dublin RIRA faction.

"But Kelly never did anything with the money. The guys want their money back and they're prepared to take it by force."

The target in the gun attack is a successful businessman who has no serious criminal convictions.

A business property used by the man was raided in 2006 by gardai, who believed that up to €50,000 worth of heroin was being stored there.

Detectives are still trying to ascertain the precise criminal plan which the west Dublin brothers and Kelly wished to carry out with the INLA and the Dublin RIRA.

Rumours of a split in the ranks of the Eamonn Dunne gang have been rife since his murder in April but this is the first concrete evidence of a major rift.

The Don's gang has been the chief target of the north Dublin RIRA unit who have been trying to extort money from Dublin's most notorious crime figures.

They ordered the crime brothers to pay them €50,000 or they would kill them.

The dissident republicans are also the chief suspects in the shooting of Eamonn Dunne's close pal Brian O'Reilly in August and the failed assassination attempt on the Don's mentor, Eamonn Kelly.

Brian O'Reilly, who was a pallbearer at The Don's funeral, was sprayed with semi-automatic fire in a pub on August 7, but escaped with his life.

O'Reilly, who is well known to gardai, was told in May that a threat had been made against his life.

O'Reilly is originally from Ballymun but now lives in Co Meath. He was Dunne's closest confidant and has stabilised Dunne's gang in the wake of his murder six months ago.

hnews@herald.ie

- Cormac Byrne

Gardaí on alert to prevent gang hit at time of Griffin course case

Sunday Tribune

Ali Bracken, Crime Correspondent
GANGLAND criminal Christy Griffin is due to appear in court on 13 December appealing his life sentence conviction, and gardaí have already made preparations to try and avert another murder attempt – linked to the Sheriff Street feud – planned to coincide with his next court appearance.
Last Monday, a man was shot in Swords and another man was seriously assaulted in a retaliation attack. The shooting was planned to coincide with Griffin's court appearance that day. Griffin is involved in a long-running appeal against his life sentence after he was convicted of the rape and sexual abuse of his partner's daughter.
Griffin (40), of Canon Lillis Avenue, Dublin, was once the leader of a close-knit group of criminals in the Sheriff Street area, but the gang became involved in the country's most bitter gangland feud when allegations of Griffin's abuse of a child came to light eight years ago, tearing the gang apart and resulting in five murders to date.
One faction of the gang sided with Griffin when the rape allegations first emerged, while the other faction believed the victim and turned on Griffin. The first victim of the feud was shot dead in December 2006 and the latest in July last. A source said that, almost without fail, there are planned shootings or beatings carried out each time Griffin makes a court appearance. Some have been averted by gardaí because of an increased presence in the area and intelligence-led operations.
"Almost without fail every time Griffin appears in court, there is violence, or at least planned violence and shootings. This feud is still very bitter and emotive. The only way it will ever end is when Christy Griffin dies," said a source. "We are making plans to try and stop any shootings being carried out on 13 December, when he is up in court again."
October 24, 2010

Crime gang anti-IRA force 'a joke', say gardaí

Sunday Tribune

Ali Bracken
The so-called Criminal Action Force (CAF) – which claims to comprise of criminals from various gangs who have joined forces to oppose the Real IRA's expansion in Dublin's underworld – does not exist, according to sources.
In recent weeks, a group calling itself CAF issued statements and a photograph to a national newspaper claiming gangs across Dublin had united to hit back at republicans who have extorted more than €400,000 from them so far this year.
They threatened to murder any dissident Republicans who continue to attempt to extort money from criminal gangs. However, sources said there is "absolutely no garda intelligence whatsoever" to support the existence of the group.
"The Criminal Action Force does not exist as far as we're concerned. It's a joke. It is a publicity stunt, plain and simple," said a source. "Criminal gangs are unhappy that dissident Republicans are trying to extort money from them. But they have not joined forces in any way to oppose them."
In recent months, four brothers and their criminal associates in Donaghmede, north Dublin, have been extorting money from crime gangs after establishing themselves as members of the Real IRA.
The dissident republicans have been demanding a cut from profits from other crime gangs who have been involved in armed robberies and, to a lesser extent, have been muscling in on control of security at Dublin bars and nightclubs.
There has also been conflict over the control of drug-dealing in various parts of the city. "The brothers in Donaghmede and their associates have been flexing their muscles, demanding a cut of money from crime gangs if they see a weakness within that gang. This has obviously caused a lot of friction," said the source.
Detectives are closely monitoring the activities of the Real IRA criminals, particularly the brothers in Donaghmede. Two of the brothers were arrested three weeks ago within hours of criminal Sean Winters being shot in the head in an affluent Dublin suburb. Winters had ties to a north Dublin gang involved in drug dealing and is believed to have been resisting an att­empt to hand over money de­manded of him by the Real IRA.
October 10, 2010

Freddie gangsters scald victim with boiling water

Irish Herald



By Cormac Byrne

Tuesday October 05 2010

A MAN kidnapped by a Tallaght drug trafficker and an associate of 'Fat' Freddie Thompson was beaten and scalded with boiling water.

The victim managed to escape after his kidnappers fell into a drink and drug-fuelled sleep. However, he has refused to make a complaint to gardai over the attack at a house in Lucan on Friday.

At the same time, gardai have deployed the ERU back on the streets of the capital in an operation codenamed Hybrid.

The SWAT officers were mounting checkpoints in Finglas, Ballyfermot and Crumlin/Drimnagh as gang feuds threatened to explode once more.

Officers are most concerned about the feud in Ballyfermot, which led to the murders of the Corbally brothers last June.

Meanwhile, gardai had to release the Freddie gang members who abducted the man in Derry. The victim was too frightened to make a statement about the incident, the Herald understands.

The man had been abducted from his home near Magheraflet, Co Derry, early last Friday and then brought across the border to a house in Dublin.

He managed to escape from the property at Tandy's Lane in Lucan after his captors fell asleep after taking a number of pills and drinking.

The kidnap victim staggered to Lucan Garda Station half-naked and covered in blood and raised the alarm.

In a matter of minutes a large number of patrol cars were on the scene and three men were arrested on the spot.

All three were held under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, with two of the men being detained at Lucan garda station and the third at Ronanstown.

Robbery

But gardai were forced to release the men on Sunday after the victim refused to make a complaint.

One of the kidnappers is major Tallaght drug trafficker in his 40s, who is a target of the Organised Crime Unit and the Garda National Drugs Unit.

This criminal has previously been imprisoned for a failed armed robbery where shots were fired.

Another attacker acts as a drug runner for the notorious 'Fat' Freddie Thompson gang and is related to a number of infamous armed robbers and kidnappers.

This criminal also has strong links to drugs gangs in Birmingham and has links to one of the gang members responsible for the kidnapping of former National Irish Bank chief Jim Lacey.

Lacey was snatched from his home in Grove Avenue, Blackrock, Dublin, in November 1993. It was the last big criminal enterprise by the late Martin 'The General' Cahill.

The third man is known to gardai but is a relatively small player in gangland circles.

The victim was given an escort to the border where he was picked up by another individual who is understood to have brought him home.

A garda spokesperson said."The gardai in Lucan are investigating an incident in which a male was allegedly falsely imprisoned. All three men have been released and investigations are ongoing."

The incident occurred as garda armed response units mounted stop and search checkpoints in Tallaght in a crackdown on the movements of known criminals, including associates of Thompson.

hnews@herald.ie

- Cormac Byrne