By Jim Cusack
Sunday May 22 2005
IN AN unreported recent incident, someone fired a several shots from a machine gun pistol through the front windows of a Dublin house. The gunman was working for a fairly well known and very nasty family of drug dealers from the south inner city, one with IRA connections.
A gun attack on a house in Dublin no longer makes the news. Nor does the story behind the attack. It came as no surprise to gardai or the intended victim.
The target of the attack was a hard-working man who separated from his partner and their children as a result of the trauma they encountered at the hands of just one of Dublin's dozens of little crime lords. The gun attack was a "lesson".
A number of years ago a young man was attacked on the street in broad daylight for no reason by a Crumlin-based member of a notorious drugs family. His attacker was a heavy cocaine user and believed the young man had made a comment about him. He clubbed him repeatedly over the head.
Despite serious injuries, the victim survived and did not suffer permanent brain damage. What happened subsequently is illustrative of what is happening in Dublin today and in part prompted Justice Minister Michael McDowell to provide an additional €6.5m in overtime payments for gardai on anti-crime duties as part of Operation Anvil.
The young man suffered some memory loss but his girlfriend agreed to identify his attacker and to testify in court. She and her boyfriend were subjected to a campaign of intimidation and, at one stage, the IRA was recruited to kill one or both.
The IRA sub-contracted the killing out to a member of the INLA, who was intercepted by gardai on a firearms charge. The young couple spent almost a year moving from place to place in the city until the strain finally proved too much and they split up. It is believed the woman may be living in temporary accommodation still.
The woman gave evidence in court and her boyfriend's attacker was jailed for four years. He was released recently. Gardai have no doubt that the young gangster either ordered the machine-gun attack or carried it out himself. He wanted to send a message to anyone, any law-abiding member of the public who 'rats' on one of his kind.
The intended victim of the shooting may count himself lucky. Eight men have been shot dead in Dublin, six by members of gangs and two by the IRA.
Most recently, 22-year-old Martin Kenny, from Ballyfermot, was shot dead in his bed on the morning of May 15; the latest victim of an extraordinary feud that has raged in the south inner city since gardai seized more than €1m worth of cocaine and ecstasy at the Holiday Inn in Pearse Street on March 3, 2000.
As a result of the seizure, a Drimnagh-based drugs gang split in two with each accusing the other of allowing the drugs to be caught. Their row escalated from fists, to knives and guns. The first death was that of Derek Lodge, 26, in May 2000. This was followed by Declan Gavin, 20, stabbed to death on Crumlin Road in August 2001. Joseph Rattigan, only 18 but a key figure in one of the feuding gangs, was murdered in July 2002.
In all, six murders took place in the first part of the feud, which only died down two years ago after gardai locked up some of the two gangs' key figures on firearms and drugs offences.
But several other gang members, including one of the most dangerous young criminals known to gardai, have been released since the start of the year, and the feud has flared up again this year.
On March 9, John Roche, 24, was shot dead on Military Road in Kilmainham as he sat in his car with his girlfriend. It is is thought that last Sunday's murder of Kenny, a drug courier, may have been retaliation for Roche's murder.
Across the city in Finglas, feuds continue to flare between around a dozen local gangs all involved in various crimes, from ATM robberies, to kidnappings, to drugs.
The latest victim of the feuding in the Garda Dublin West Division, now referred to by gardai as the 'Wild West' by gardai, was Andrew Glennon, a 30-year-old career criminal, who met his reasonably predictable end on February 5.
Like in the south inner city, gardai believe there will be retaliatory attacks and killings.
Officers are definitely expecting retaliation for the murder of Mark Byrne, 31, described by detectives as an extremely nasty criminal. He was shot dead minutes after being released on temporary leave from Mountjoy Prison to attend the Mater Hospital.
Gardai believe it was a revenge attack by a past victim of Byrne's notorious violence.
The reason behind the murder of Terry Dunleavy, 27, shot dead as he left his girlfriend's flat in Ballybough on April 14, appears to be revenge after he purloined part of a €1.3m cash haul he and three other local criminals had stolen from a security van in Laytown, Co Meath, last summer.
Joseph Rafferty, 29, was killed as he walked from his apartment in Ongar on April 12, because he had confronted and hit a Dublin IRA man who had assaulted a girl and youth at a 21st birthday party.
Operation Anvil will be directed towards building up intelligence and controlling the activities of some of the most active gangs. The movements of the most active criminals are being closely monitored by gardai. A similar tactic was successful against Martin Cahill in the early Eighties.
Divisional chief superintendents have also been directed to increase the number of plain clothes and uniform patrol cars on duty at all times by four per division.
The initiatives are said to be badly needed as the investigation into the kidnapping of a Dublin security van driver's family in April revealed there were serious weaknesses in the Garda's criminal intelligence in Dublin.
Senior gardai, however, admit that it is an uphill battle and given the continuing large-scale flow of drugs into the city, it is quite likely the killing will continue.
- Jim Cusack
Sunday, 22 May 2005
Sunday, 8 May 2005
Rash of gangland hits set to make it bloodiest year yet
Sunday May 08 2005
JIM CUSACK
GANGLAND killings, drug trafficking and armed robberies have reached levels higher than the mid-1990s when the Government was forced to introduce the criminal assets legislation to crack down on organised crime, senior gardai admit.
Seven gangland hits, the latest in broad daylight on Thursday, have taken place since March, making this year the bloodiest since 1995-96. Then, 12 killings took place in an 18-month period prior to the murder of Sunday Independent journalist Veronica Guerin.
All seven killings involve drugs-related gang members and two have taken place in the Taoiseach's own constituency, exposing as false claims by Justice Minister Michael McDowell only two weeks ago that serious crime levels are falling.
Senior gardai admit that despite a number of major successes scored against armed robbery and drugs gangs in the past fortnight, more drugs and more guns are on the streets than ever before. Gardai also admit that despite the official claims that crime is falling, massive amounts of drugs are still coming into the country.
Commenting on a €1.5m heroin seizure in Dublin last week, one senior garda said that it was "only a shovel out of a lorry-load of sand". The biggest heroin dealing gang in the country is now believed to be headed by a former Provisional IRA figure who is on the run this weekend after gardai cracked part of his distribution operation.
The man, in his late 30s, is from Ballyfermot but recently moved to the Liffey Valley area. He runs an extensive gang which employs dozens of people, including elderly men and women, to launder the vast amounts of cash being generated by the business.
With five murders in April alone, the State is experiencing its worst ever rash of gangland murders. Gardai say none of the killings are related and all have resulted from inter-gang rivalries and personal feuds. A senior garda used the term "cluster effect" when describing the recent outbreak of killings.
Starting with the murder of John Roche on March 9 in Kilmainham, Dublin, seven murders have taken place culminating with Thursday morning's killing of Mark Byrne. Byrne was shot dead minutes after he left Mountjoy Prison on a temporary pass. He was killed as part of a feud involving former drug trafficking associates which turned violent.
The first in the latest spate of gangland killings was that of John Roche, 25, from Crumlin. Roche's murder was part of a feud that started five years ago when gardai broke up a cocaine-dealing ring in a raid on a Dublin hotel where two teenagers were "cutting" cocaine in a bedroom. The Crumlin drugs gang split and six murders have resulted from this feud alone.
Of the other murders this year, two have involved figures associated with the Provisional IRA who have become centrally involved in organised crime. Courier Joseph Rafferty, 28, who was shot dead outside his apartment in Clonee, was murdered because of a dispute with an IRA-associated family in the north inner city which broke out at Christmas.
The other broad daylight murder - of Hughie McGinley, 26, in Sligo on April 28 - was a result of inter-gang rivalry between two travelling families who are said to be making millions from drug dealing in the west and north west.
The rash of gangland murders has revealed the distance between fact and reality in claims last month by the Minister for Justice that serious crime is falling. Mr McDowell was comparing statistics of "headline crime" for the first quarter of this year and the first quarter of last year which, on paper, show a seven per cent drop.
However, compared with statistics from five years ago, it is evident that serious crime is still climbing with drug crime and armed robbery at levels the same or higher than the mid-1990s.
The Minister is introducing mandatory imprisonment for possession of firearms as part of the Criminal Justice Bill. At present judges have discretion as to whether or not a person found in possession of a gun can receive a sentence of imprisonment or a suspended sentence.
One senior garda told the Sunday Independent that the force is facing a crisis in the successful prosecution of crimes like robbery and burglary. Successful prosecutions are running at levels as low as three to seven per cent in these categories. Despite this, the Garda Siochana claims official "detection rates" of over 40 per cent. The official detection rates are "basically fictitious", one senior garda said.
JIM CUSACK
GANGLAND killings, drug trafficking and armed robberies have reached levels higher than the mid-1990s when the Government was forced to introduce the criminal assets legislation to crack down on organised crime, senior gardai admit.
Seven gangland hits, the latest in broad daylight on Thursday, have taken place since March, making this year the bloodiest since 1995-96. Then, 12 killings took place in an 18-month period prior to the murder of Sunday Independent journalist Veronica Guerin.
All seven killings involve drugs-related gang members and two have taken place in the Taoiseach's own constituency, exposing as false claims by Justice Minister Michael McDowell only two weeks ago that serious crime levels are falling.
Senior gardai admit that despite a number of major successes scored against armed robbery and drugs gangs in the past fortnight, more drugs and more guns are on the streets than ever before. Gardai also admit that despite the official claims that crime is falling, massive amounts of drugs are still coming into the country.
Commenting on a €1.5m heroin seizure in Dublin last week, one senior garda said that it was "only a shovel out of a lorry-load of sand". The biggest heroin dealing gang in the country is now believed to be headed by a former Provisional IRA figure who is on the run this weekend after gardai cracked part of his distribution operation.
The man, in his late 30s, is from Ballyfermot but recently moved to the Liffey Valley area. He runs an extensive gang which employs dozens of people, including elderly men and women, to launder the vast amounts of cash being generated by the business.
With five murders in April alone, the State is experiencing its worst ever rash of gangland murders. Gardai say none of the killings are related and all have resulted from inter-gang rivalries and personal feuds. A senior garda used the term "cluster effect" when describing the recent outbreak of killings.
Starting with the murder of John Roche on March 9 in Kilmainham, Dublin, seven murders have taken place culminating with Thursday morning's killing of Mark Byrne. Byrne was shot dead minutes after he left Mountjoy Prison on a temporary pass. He was killed as part of a feud involving former drug trafficking associates which turned violent.
The first in the latest spate of gangland killings was that of John Roche, 25, from Crumlin. Roche's murder was part of a feud that started five years ago when gardai broke up a cocaine-dealing ring in a raid on a Dublin hotel where two teenagers were "cutting" cocaine in a bedroom. The Crumlin drugs gang split and six murders have resulted from this feud alone.
Of the other murders this year, two have involved figures associated with the Provisional IRA who have become centrally involved in organised crime. Courier Joseph Rafferty, 28, who was shot dead outside his apartment in Clonee, was murdered because of a dispute with an IRA-associated family in the north inner city which broke out at Christmas.
The other broad daylight murder - of Hughie McGinley, 26, in Sligo on April 28 - was a result of inter-gang rivalry between two travelling families who are said to be making millions from drug dealing in the west and north west.
The rash of gangland murders has revealed the distance between fact and reality in claims last month by the Minister for Justice that serious crime is falling. Mr McDowell was comparing statistics of "headline crime" for the first quarter of this year and the first quarter of last year which, on paper, show a seven per cent drop.
However, compared with statistics from five years ago, it is evident that serious crime is still climbing with drug crime and armed robbery at levels the same or higher than the mid-1990s.
The Minister is introducing mandatory imprisonment for possession of firearms as part of the Criminal Justice Bill. At present judges have discretion as to whether or not a person found in possession of a gun can receive a sentence of imprisonment or a suspended sentence.
One senior garda told the Sunday Independent that the force is facing a crisis in the successful prosecution of crimes like robbery and burglary. Successful prosecutions are running at levels as low as three to seven per cent in these categories. Despite this, the Garda Siochana claims official "detection rates" of over 40 per cent. The official detection rates are "basically fictitious", one senior garda said.
Sunday, 17 April 2005
Gardai fear drug gang bloodbath
Sunday Tribune
Gangland deaths for this year already at 2004 levels
John Burke and Eoghan Rice
THE number of ganglandstyle asassinations carried out since the start of this year is equal to the total number of similar murders in the previous 12 months, according to figures on homicide and violent death compiled by the Sunday Tribune.
As gardai yesterday made the ninth arrest in their investigation of the murder of Jimmy Curran in the Green Lizard pub in Dublin on 3 April, senior officers said they were concerned that gangland killings could spiral back to the high levels seen in the 1990s.
To date, four young Dublin men have been murdered in gangland hits in the first 14 weeks of this year. There were four such slayings, in total, in 2004. While last year's figure was a record low, senior gardai are concerned that the level of gangland slayings could return to the high of two years ago, when 17 people were murdered in gang conflicts in Limerick and Dublin, at a time when several major drug gangs were embroiled in internecine feuding.
While gardai have achieved undisputed success in quelling gang-related bloodshed in Limerick, the number of killings in Dublin looks set to return to its worst with the shooting of three people in the past fortnight alone.
Fine Gael justice spokesman Jim O'Keeffe this weekend warned that there is growing evidence that a system of "assassins-for-hire" is taking root in the criminal underworld. "The last couple of weeks have seen a shocking number of murders, which have overshadowed Justice Minister Michael McDowell's attempt to suggest that serious crime has fallen. In terms of homicides, particularly those involving the use of guns, it would appear that Ireland is returning to the bad old days."
The first gangland hit this year took place on 9 March, when 24-year-old John Roche, who was known to gardai, was shot on Military Road in Kilmainham. The shooting is thought to be linked to a fouryear gangland feud which resulted in the deaths of two other men in 2001 and 2002, as well as a number of attempted murders and drive-by shootings.
Gardai are also investigating the possibility that a 29year-old man murdered in west Dublin last week was killed on the orders of a major Dublin drug dealer. Joseph Rafferty was shot twice by a lone gunman as he left his apartment in the Ongar Park housing estate near Clonsilla.
One line of enquiry being explored is the possibility that Rafferty was shot dead as a result of a personal dispute with a drug dealer.
Gardai are this weekend believed to be near a breakthrough in the killing of 42year-old Jimmy Curran on 3 April, in a shooting that had all the hallmarks of a ganglandstyle hit. The Dubliner was shot in the head as he drank in the Green Lizard pub opposite the Tivoli Theatre in the south inner city. Garda now believe that he may have been targeted after a personal dispute.
Yesterday's arrest, of a man in his 40s, took place in the Meath Street area of Dublin close to where the murder occurred.
Terry Dunleavy, a wellknown hard-man and cannabis dealer in inner-city Dublin, was the third man shot dead in a 10-day period, when he was killed on Thursday evening on his way to conduct a drugs deal. He was shot five times before the gunman fled on a moped in what gardai believe is part of a longrunning inter-gang feud.
Dunleavy was not a significant player on the city's drugs scene, but had a reputation for violence and convictions for armed robbery and assault.
He was ambushed as he was approaching his girlfriend's flat at Croke Villas, off the Ballybough Road on the northside.
The growing trend in gangland slayings is particularly worrying for gardai dealing with the growing menace of young Dublin drugs gangs in the south and north innercity areas of the capital, with indications that criminals have increasingly easy access to powerful firearms.
Last year's gangland killings were concentrated exclusively in the Dublin area.
One senior garda source told the Tribune last week that murders arising out of socalled 'turf wars' over the control and supply of drugs are uncommon among Dublin criminals.
"They seem to have easy access to guns and they just shoot someone when they have a falling-out with them.
The tit-for-tat continues along similar lines until someone is murdered."
Last year's killings were also mostly inner-city based.
Kenneth Byrne, 30, was shot dead at his home in St Theresa's Gardens flats complex in Dolphin's Barn on 1 February 2004. Gardai suspect the convicted armed robber was targeted by former associates in a revenge attack.
Paul Warren, 23, also from St Theresa's Gardens, was shot dead in Gray's pub, formerly the Red Lion, at Newmarket Square, off Cork Street, Dublin, by two masked gunmen, three weeks later.
He was a minor drug dealer, and gardai suspect a gangland connection.
One of the most high-profile victims was Jonathan O'Reilly, 25, from St Mark's Gardens, Clondalkin. He was a well-known member of a west Dublin drugs gang.
The father of one was shot dead by a masked gunman on a motorbike who fired three shots into O'Reilly's BMW, as he sat in the parked car outside Cloverhill Prison, on 17 April, in a ganglandstyle assassination.
Gardai still fear that a major backlash in tit-for-tat shootings may arise out of the death of west Dublin criminal Paul Cunningham, 23, who was shot dead as he lay in bed with his partner and young child at their Mulhuddart home on 29 November.
Cunningham was a close associate of Declan Curran, a major player in the Dublin crime scene who had died a week earlier.
April 17, 2005
Gangland deaths for this year already at 2004 levels
John Burke and Eoghan Rice
THE number of ganglandstyle asassinations carried out since the start of this year is equal to the total number of similar murders in the previous 12 months, according to figures on homicide and violent death compiled by the Sunday Tribune.
As gardai yesterday made the ninth arrest in their investigation of the murder of Jimmy Curran in the Green Lizard pub in Dublin on 3 April, senior officers said they were concerned that gangland killings could spiral back to the high levels seen in the 1990s.
To date, four young Dublin men have been murdered in gangland hits in the first 14 weeks of this year. There were four such slayings, in total, in 2004. While last year's figure was a record low, senior gardai are concerned that the level of gangland slayings could return to the high of two years ago, when 17 people were murdered in gang conflicts in Limerick and Dublin, at a time when several major drug gangs were embroiled in internecine feuding.
While gardai have achieved undisputed success in quelling gang-related bloodshed in Limerick, the number of killings in Dublin looks set to return to its worst with the shooting of three people in the past fortnight alone.
Fine Gael justice spokesman Jim O'Keeffe this weekend warned that there is growing evidence that a system of "assassins-for-hire" is taking root in the criminal underworld. "The last couple of weeks have seen a shocking number of murders, which have overshadowed Justice Minister Michael McDowell's attempt to suggest that serious crime has fallen. In terms of homicides, particularly those involving the use of guns, it would appear that Ireland is returning to the bad old days."
The first gangland hit this year took place on 9 March, when 24-year-old John Roche, who was known to gardai, was shot on Military Road in Kilmainham. The shooting is thought to be linked to a fouryear gangland feud which resulted in the deaths of two other men in 2001 and 2002, as well as a number of attempted murders and drive-by shootings.
Gardai are also investigating the possibility that a 29year-old man murdered in west Dublin last week was killed on the orders of a major Dublin drug dealer. Joseph Rafferty was shot twice by a lone gunman as he left his apartment in the Ongar Park housing estate near Clonsilla.
One line of enquiry being explored is the possibility that Rafferty was shot dead as a result of a personal dispute with a drug dealer.
Gardai are this weekend believed to be near a breakthrough in the killing of 42year-old Jimmy Curran on 3 April, in a shooting that had all the hallmarks of a ganglandstyle hit. The Dubliner was shot in the head as he drank in the Green Lizard pub opposite the Tivoli Theatre in the south inner city. Garda now believe that he may have been targeted after a personal dispute.
Yesterday's arrest, of a man in his 40s, took place in the Meath Street area of Dublin close to where the murder occurred.
Terry Dunleavy, a wellknown hard-man and cannabis dealer in inner-city Dublin, was the third man shot dead in a 10-day period, when he was killed on Thursday evening on his way to conduct a drugs deal. He was shot five times before the gunman fled on a moped in what gardai believe is part of a longrunning inter-gang feud.
Dunleavy was not a significant player on the city's drugs scene, but had a reputation for violence and convictions for armed robbery and assault.
He was ambushed as he was approaching his girlfriend's flat at Croke Villas, off the Ballybough Road on the northside.
The growing trend in gangland slayings is particularly worrying for gardai dealing with the growing menace of young Dublin drugs gangs in the south and north innercity areas of the capital, with indications that criminals have increasingly easy access to powerful firearms.
Last year's gangland killings were concentrated exclusively in the Dublin area.
One senior garda source told the Tribune last week that murders arising out of socalled 'turf wars' over the control and supply of drugs are uncommon among Dublin criminals.
"They seem to have easy access to guns and they just shoot someone when they have a falling-out with them.
The tit-for-tat continues along similar lines until someone is murdered."
Last year's killings were also mostly inner-city based.
Kenneth Byrne, 30, was shot dead at his home in St Theresa's Gardens flats complex in Dolphin's Barn on 1 February 2004. Gardai suspect the convicted armed robber was targeted by former associates in a revenge attack.
Paul Warren, 23, also from St Theresa's Gardens, was shot dead in Gray's pub, formerly the Red Lion, at Newmarket Square, off Cork Street, Dublin, by two masked gunmen, three weeks later.
He was a minor drug dealer, and gardai suspect a gangland connection.
One of the most high-profile victims was Jonathan O'Reilly, 25, from St Mark's Gardens, Clondalkin. He was a well-known member of a west Dublin drugs gang.
The father of one was shot dead by a masked gunman on a motorbike who fired three shots into O'Reilly's BMW, as he sat in the parked car outside Cloverhill Prison, on 17 April, in a ganglandstyle assassination.
Gardai still fear that a major backlash in tit-for-tat shootings may arise out of the death of west Dublin criminal Paul Cunningham, 23, who was shot dead as he lay in bed with his partner and young child at their Mulhuddart home on 29 November.
Cunningham was a close associate of Declan Curran, a major player in the Dublin crime scene who had died a week earlier.
April 17, 2005
Sunday, 20 March 2005
SUSPECT GANGS CARRY OUT 50 ROBBERIES IN 12 MONTHS
Sunday Tribune
THE two gangs that are the main focus of Garda attention this weekend have had major success robbing banks. In particular, the Finglas-based gang, run by two brothers, has been prolific over the past 12 months.
Before last week's robbery, the biggest of the recent heists was a 1m raid on a cash-in-transit van delivering to an ATM at Bettystown in Meath last July.
A month before, three raiders made off with 80,000 from a Securicor van delivering to an ATM at Marian Park in Drogheda.
The same gang are the chief suspects in the 200,000 robbery of an ATM delivery in Swords, Co Dublin, last May, while another Securicor van was hit for 217,000 when delivering to the Supervalu at Palmerstown shopping centre in west Dublin last March.
In total, a small core of no more than two or three organised crime gangs have carried out over 50 robberies of cash-in-transit vehicles since the start of 2004, mostly in the greater Dublin area.
The trend points to one stark fact: gangs such as John Gilligan's, Martin Cahill's and the notorious Dunne outfit (who showed Cahill the robbery ropes) all started out robbing banks and later used much of this cash to buy into the drugs market.
It took over a decade for special garda units such as the criminal assets bureau (CAB) and the national drugs unit (GNDU) to force these gangs out of business. Some senior gardai believe that the re-emergence of such a trend . . . thieves working to fund large drugs enterprises . . . is a warning sign that a small core of criminal gangs has begun to approach a level of power not seen since the mid to late 1990s.
March 20, 2005
THE two gangs that are the main focus of Garda attention this weekend have had major success robbing banks. In particular, the Finglas-based gang, run by two brothers, has been prolific over the past 12 months.
Before last week's robbery, the biggest of the recent heists was a 1m raid on a cash-in-transit van delivering to an ATM at Bettystown in Meath last July.
A month before, three raiders made off with 80,000 from a Securicor van delivering to an ATM at Marian Park in Drogheda.
The same gang are the chief suspects in the 200,000 robbery of an ATM delivery in Swords, Co Dublin, last May, while another Securicor van was hit for 217,000 when delivering to the Supervalu at Palmerstown shopping centre in west Dublin last March.
In total, a small core of no more than two or three organised crime gangs have carried out over 50 robberies of cash-in-transit vehicles since the start of 2004, mostly in the greater Dublin area.
The trend points to one stark fact: gangs such as John Gilligan's, Martin Cahill's and the notorious Dunne outfit (who showed Cahill the robbery ropes) all started out robbing banks and later used much of this cash to buy into the drugs market.
It took over a decade for special garda units such as the criminal assets bureau (CAB) and the national drugs unit (GNDU) to force these gangs out of business. Some senior gardai believe that the re-emergence of such a trend . . . thieves working to fund large drugs enterprises . . . is a warning sign that a small core of criminal gangs has begun to approach a level of power not seen since the mid to late 1990s.
March 20, 2005
Wednesday, 16 March 2005
'New kids on block' key targets in €2m raid
By Tom Brady
Wednesday March 16 2005
GARDAI believe the gang responsible for the €2m security van heist in Dublin may have been 'new kids on the block'. Descriptions of the raiders involved in the abduction and robbery vary but they are thought to be fairly young and unlikely to have been linked to similar crimes in the past.
GARDAI believe the gang responsible for the €2m security van heist in Dublin may have been 'new kids on the block'.
Descriptions of the raiders involved in the abduction and robbery vary but they are thought to be fairly young and unlikely to have been linked to similar crimes in the past.
Senior detectives are now examining the recent movements of members of crime gangs established in the past few years.
They think the culprits may have been involved in less spectacular crimes such as hit-and-run cash robberies from security vans but have now graduated to a new level of crime.
One of the crime gangs on the suspect list is led by two brothers who operate on the northside of the capital.
They have been responsible for masterminding a series of raids on ATM deliveries in Dublin and surrounding counties in the past couple of years.
Last night gardai were also awaiting important information on the notes taken in the raid that could assist in identifying anyone who tried to off load them.
According to Garda sources the money was in €50, €20, €10 notes. They had already been in circulation but were of a good enough quality to be usable in the ATM machines.
The gang faces the same money laundering headache as the robbers of the €38m Northern Bank haul in December.
Only a small amount from that raid has so far emerged. It was found in a PSNI sports centre outside Belfast while Garda forensic experts are trying to determine if bundles of notes found during a raid in Cork in recent weeks was part of the same cache.
Throughout yesterday the Richardson family at the centre of the drama were continuing to work with detectives as they tried to obtain as much detail as possible about what happened and who was involved.
Gardai also preserved the scene at the family's home in Raheny and the site in the Dublin mountains where Mrs Richardson and her two sons were taken and held.
While a new breed of armed robber is now high on the list of suspects, gardai are not ruling out that hardened criminals could have been behind the raid. These criminals are all in the 40s and 50s, are well known to gardai and are suspected of having carried out a similar abduction and raid six years ago, as well as a series of computer-chip robberies. One of the gang has recently settled a €200,000 case with the Criminal Assets Bureau.
Garda sources say they are investigating links between this latest raid and a €1m Bureau de Change heist in November 1999, believed to have been carried out by this gang.
In that robbery, a bureau employee was held hostage in her home overnight and forced to open the city centre office the next morning.
Officially gardai are keeping an open mind on the inquiry, spearheaded by Assistant Commissioner Martin Callinan, and have not ruled out paramilitary involvement in the raid.
The Richardson family are still deeply traumatised after their ordeal and at this stage have only made brief preliminary statements to the gardai.
Marie and Paul Richardson and their two teenage sons Ian and Kevin are popular in their area. Neighbours yesterday expressed concern for their welfare.
It emerged that some of the gang members briefly took their masks off while seizing the family and as a result may eventually be identified.
Around 100 gardai from Dublin and the midlands, along with detectives from the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, are working on the probe.
A garda spokesperson yesterday said it is clear the gang was well organised and were willing to take risks. "Quite a bit of work went into organising this heist," he said.
Gardai are now interested in receiving any information from motorists passing the Angler's Rest pub on Knockmarroon Hill, Chapelizod at 8.30am on Monday.
They would like to hear from anyone who may have noticed a small dark car in the carpark there, with a number of men who had been seen standing around.
They are also seeking information on anyone who may have been in the following areas: Ashcroft housing estate, Raheny after 8pm Sunday; Glencree Wood and Enniskerry Road from 8pm Sunday to 9am Monday; Strawberry Beds area of Lucan from 7am Monday; the Mullingar to Kinnegad road between 7am and 10am Monday.
Anyone with information can contact Santry gardai at 01 666 4000.
- Tom Brady
Wednesday March 16 2005
GARDAI believe the gang responsible for the €2m security van heist in Dublin may have been 'new kids on the block'. Descriptions of the raiders involved in the abduction and robbery vary but they are thought to be fairly young and unlikely to have been linked to similar crimes in the past.
GARDAI believe the gang responsible for the €2m security van heist in Dublin may have been 'new kids on the block'.
Descriptions of the raiders involved in the abduction and robbery vary but they are thought to be fairly young and unlikely to have been linked to similar crimes in the past.
Senior detectives are now examining the recent movements of members of crime gangs established in the past few years.
They think the culprits may have been involved in less spectacular crimes such as hit-and-run cash robberies from security vans but have now graduated to a new level of crime.
One of the crime gangs on the suspect list is led by two brothers who operate on the northside of the capital.
They have been responsible for masterminding a series of raids on ATM deliveries in Dublin and surrounding counties in the past couple of years.
Last night gardai were also awaiting important information on the notes taken in the raid that could assist in identifying anyone who tried to off load them.
According to Garda sources the money was in €50, €20, €10 notes. They had already been in circulation but were of a good enough quality to be usable in the ATM machines.
The gang faces the same money laundering headache as the robbers of the €38m Northern Bank haul in December.
Only a small amount from that raid has so far emerged. It was found in a PSNI sports centre outside Belfast while Garda forensic experts are trying to determine if bundles of notes found during a raid in Cork in recent weeks was part of the same cache.
Throughout yesterday the Richardson family at the centre of the drama were continuing to work with detectives as they tried to obtain as much detail as possible about what happened and who was involved.
Gardai also preserved the scene at the family's home in Raheny and the site in the Dublin mountains where Mrs Richardson and her two sons were taken and held.
While a new breed of armed robber is now high on the list of suspects, gardai are not ruling out that hardened criminals could have been behind the raid. These criminals are all in the 40s and 50s, are well known to gardai and are suspected of having carried out a similar abduction and raid six years ago, as well as a series of computer-chip robberies. One of the gang has recently settled a €200,000 case with the Criminal Assets Bureau.
Garda sources say they are investigating links between this latest raid and a €1m Bureau de Change heist in November 1999, believed to have been carried out by this gang.
In that robbery, a bureau employee was held hostage in her home overnight and forced to open the city centre office the next morning.
Officially gardai are keeping an open mind on the inquiry, spearheaded by Assistant Commissioner Martin Callinan, and have not ruled out paramilitary involvement in the raid.
The Richardson family are still deeply traumatised after their ordeal and at this stage have only made brief preliminary statements to the gardai.
Marie and Paul Richardson and their two teenage sons Ian and Kevin are popular in their area. Neighbours yesterday expressed concern for their welfare.
It emerged that some of the gang members briefly took their masks off while seizing the family and as a result may eventually be identified.
Around 100 gardai from Dublin and the midlands, along with detectives from the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, are working on the probe.
A garda spokesperson yesterday said it is clear the gang was well organised and were willing to take risks. "Quite a bit of work went into organising this heist," he said.
Gardai are now interested in receiving any information from motorists passing the Angler's Rest pub on Knockmarroon Hill, Chapelizod at 8.30am on Monday.
They would like to hear from anyone who may have noticed a small dark car in the carpark there, with a number of men who had been seen standing around.
They are also seeking information on anyone who may have been in the following areas: Ashcroft housing estate, Raheny after 8pm Sunday; Glencree Wood and Enniskerry Road from 8pm Sunday to 9am Monday; Strawberry Beds area of Lucan from 7am Monday; the Mullingar to Kinnegad road between 7am and 10am Monday.
Anyone with information can contact Santry gardai at 01 666 4000.
- Tom Brady
Thursday, 10 March 2005
Murder 'linked to other gang killing'
By Tom BradySecurity Editor
Thursday March 10 2005
TWO women have been arrested by gardai in connection with the savage murder of a young Dublin man early yesterday.
The death of John Roche (25), of Clonmacnoise Road in Dublin is being linked to the fatal shooting of another gang-feud victim in the capital last year.
Mr Roche was hit at least twice in the chest when gunmen opened fire on him as he left his parked car at Military Road in Kilmainham shortly after midnight.
Four shots were fired from a handgun and the two gunmen then jumped into a black car which was seen speeding away shortly afterwards towards John's Road.
Mr Roche staggered around 100 metres along the road before collapsing outside Murray's pub. He was taken to St James' Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 3.35am.
Gardai believe the dead man was associated with one of two gangs involved in a bitter feud over drug-trafficking for the past couple of years.
Mr Roche had been sought by gardai for questioning about the murder of a 23-year-old glazier, Paul Warren, of St Teresa's Gardens in the south inner city in February last year.
This was the first gangland murder this year. Last November career criminal Paul Cunningham (23), was shot dead in a house in Mulhuddart in west Dublin as part of a separate feud.
Cunningham was a close associate of gang leader Declan Curran who died in his cell at Cloverhill prison the previous weekend after being arrested at the scene of an armed hold-up. Last weekend another associate, Anthony Spratt, from Finglas, was found hanged in his cell at Mountjoy jail.
The level of serious gangland crime, particularly murders, has dropped significantly in the past year.
Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy described the fall as substantial and pointed out that some of the perceived gangland murders were family rows that developed for very little reason.
The two women are being held under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act at Kevin Street Garda Station.
They can be held without charge for up to 72 hours.
- Tom BradySecurity Editor
Thursday March 10 2005
TWO women have been arrested by gardai in connection with the savage murder of a young Dublin man early yesterday.
The death of John Roche (25), of Clonmacnoise Road in Dublin is being linked to the fatal shooting of another gang-feud victim in the capital last year.
Mr Roche was hit at least twice in the chest when gunmen opened fire on him as he left his parked car at Military Road in Kilmainham shortly after midnight.
Four shots were fired from a handgun and the two gunmen then jumped into a black car which was seen speeding away shortly afterwards towards John's Road.
Mr Roche staggered around 100 metres along the road before collapsing outside Murray's pub. He was taken to St James' Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 3.35am.
Gardai believe the dead man was associated with one of two gangs involved in a bitter feud over drug-trafficking for the past couple of years.
Mr Roche had been sought by gardai for questioning about the murder of a 23-year-old glazier, Paul Warren, of St Teresa's Gardens in the south inner city in February last year.
This was the first gangland murder this year. Last November career criminal Paul Cunningham (23), was shot dead in a house in Mulhuddart in west Dublin as part of a separate feud.
Cunningham was a close associate of gang leader Declan Curran who died in his cell at Cloverhill prison the previous weekend after being arrested at the scene of an armed hold-up. Last weekend another associate, Anthony Spratt, from Finglas, was found hanged in his cell at Mountjoy jail.
The level of serious gangland crime, particularly murders, has dropped significantly in the past year.
Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy described the fall as substantial and pointed out that some of the perceived gangland murders were family rows that developed for very little reason.
The two women are being held under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act at Kevin Street Garda Station.
They can be held without charge for up to 72 hours.
- Tom BradySecurity Editor
Sunday, 16 January 2005
Drug barons set up base in Spanish resort
Sunday Tribune
Associates of crime boss John Gilligan are believed to be property hunting around the town of Torreviejo
Owen Conlon, Alicante, and John Burke
IRISH drug criminals, as well as former republican and loyalist paramilitaries, have set up a new base for their multi-million-euro illegal operations in the Alicante region of Spain . . . in the city of Torrevieja, a location which has also become hugely popular with Irish foreign-home buyers.
The Sunday Tribune understands that gardai and Spanish police are monitoring the influx of several well-known Irish criminals and paramilitaries into the city's property market in recent months.
Among those who are believed to have invested proceeds from armed robberies and drug sales are members of the emerging west Dublin gangs, seeking a safe place to conceal their illicit cash.
Over half of the 85,000 population in Torrevieja are foreign nationals . . . mostly Irish and English couples in their 40s and 50s who have paid out thousands of euro on second homes for investment or pension purposes.
A two- to three-bed townhouse in a good part of the city can cost from around 140,000 upwards while small apartment are much cheaper than here, at around 85,000 for a 75sq ft apartment.
However, many expatriate Irish citizens who travel back and forth to the city, and who have invested much of their savings there, have become uncomfortable at the sight of increasing numbers of Irish criminals in clubs and bars, enjoying the city's many popular nightlife venues.
While there is no clear indication that a large amount of illegal drugs business is being conducted by Irish criminals in the city, the booming property trade has also seen an influx of Russian mafia as well as Moroccan and expatriate English drug dealers, all of whom are eager to expand traffic routes for the transit of hard drugs . . . especially cocaine . . . into western Europe.
Pedra Cerrada, crime reporter with the regional newspaper Diario Informaci n de Alicante, told the Sunday Tribune that the emergence of Irish criminals in the region has become particularly noticable over the past eight to 10 months.
But scant police resources are provided to tackle the newly arriving foreign criminals, he says.
Among those believed to have been property shopping are associates of jailed crime boss John Gilligan, including John Traynor.
While Traynor has denied in media interviews since that he is involved in drug dealing, he is reported to be on the move to southeastern Alicante, after previously being based in Costa del Sol.
It is also believed that top members of a handful of emerging west Dublin gangs have bought into the residential market in Torrevieja in recent months.
These include several small-time, but nonetheless ruthless, former associates of slain criminals Declan Curran and Paul Cunningham and their former crime boss, 24-year-old John Daly, who is presently in Portlaoise prison.
Garda sources suggest that some lesser-known criminals are using the booming residential market in Torrevieja to disperse some of their combined ill-gotten gains. The move is similar to a scam which was operated successfully by members of the Keane and Ryan gangs in Limerick in 2002, when they sought to hide large sums of cash by giving money to reliable associates, who then purchased the properties on their behalf.
Among other new residents are top Northern loyalists, brothers Gary and Donald Murno, who reside in Orihuella, beside Torrevieja.
Spain is Europe's biggest dropping-off point for drugs, accounting for 60% of the continental total, according to Europol.
Cocaine mainly comes via South America, in through the hundreds of unprotected river estuaries in Galicia in the northwest. Hashish largely comes across the straits from Morocco and into the Costa del Sol.
Hundreds of millions of euro obtained in drug sales are laundered into cashbased tourism businesses and then into property on the continent.
Alicante has been rough ground for some Irish criminals. Spanish police believe that former paramilitaries are behind the disappearance of missing criminal Sean Dunne, who is believed to have been abducted last August.
Dunne, who is under investigation by the Criminal Assets Bureau, went missing shortly after arriving in Spain on 8 September last.
According to a Spanish newspaper, police believe Dunne's disappearance is the work of ex-IRA or ex-UDA members who have re-cast themselves as guns for hire in what can best be described as the new Old West.
It was here that the brutal Westies drugs gang leaders Shane Coates and Stephen Sugg fled after their shoot out with gardai at a safehouse in Virginia, Co Cavan, in Febrary 2003.
And it was from here that they disappeared amid claims that they fell foul of any one of a number of African and English criminals whom they associated with while in Alicante.
However, it is now believed that the duo arranged to have their abduction faked and are presently in hiding in Morocco. It is also here that one of the biggest drug gangs supplying dealers in Limerick and west Dublin, was dealt a major blow, just before Christmas, when the ringleader . . . a 40-year-old Dublin man . . . was arrested after a joint Irish, Dutch and Spanish police operation.
But there are many attractions to living in Torrevieja.
Few of the big players are well known in the city, giving them greater freedom to work and play.
There is also the added bonuses that Alicante airport is just 30 minutes drive away; the city boasts 320 days of sunshine a year; and temperatures in Torrevieja rarely fall below 150C in winter.
The ideal destination for drug dealers with some money to spare.
January 16, 2005
Associates of crime boss John Gilligan are believed to be property hunting around the town of Torreviejo
Owen Conlon, Alicante, and John Burke
IRISH drug criminals, as well as former republican and loyalist paramilitaries, have set up a new base for their multi-million-euro illegal operations in the Alicante region of Spain . . . in the city of Torrevieja, a location which has also become hugely popular with Irish foreign-home buyers.
The Sunday Tribune understands that gardai and Spanish police are monitoring the influx of several well-known Irish criminals and paramilitaries into the city's property market in recent months.
Among those who are believed to have invested proceeds from armed robberies and drug sales are members of the emerging west Dublin gangs, seeking a safe place to conceal their illicit cash.
Over half of the 85,000 population in Torrevieja are foreign nationals . . . mostly Irish and English couples in their 40s and 50s who have paid out thousands of euro on second homes for investment or pension purposes.
A two- to three-bed townhouse in a good part of the city can cost from around 140,000 upwards while small apartment are much cheaper than here, at around 85,000 for a 75sq ft apartment.
However, many expatriate Irish citizens who travel back and forth to the city, and who have invested much of their savings there, have become uncomfortable at the sight of increasing numbers of Irish criminals in clubs and bars, enjoying the city's many popular nightlife venues.
While there is no clear indication that a large amount of illegal drugs business is being conducted by Irish criminals in the city, the booming property trade has also seen an influx of Russian mafia as well as Moroccan and expatriate English drug dealers, all of whom are eager to expand traffic routes for the transit of hard drugs . . . especially cocaine . . . into western Europe.
Pedra Cerrada, crime reporter with the regional newspaper Diario Informaci n de Alicante, told the Sunday Tribune that the emergence of Irish criminals in the region has become particularly noticable over the past eight to 10 months.
But scant police resources are provided to tackle the newly arriving foreign criminals, he says.
Among those believed to have been property shopping are associates of jailed crime boss John Gilligan, including John Traynor.
While Traynor has denied in media interviews since that he is involved in drug dealing, he is reported to be on the move to southeastern Alicante, after previously being based in Costa del Sol.
It is also believed that top members of a handful of emerging west Dublin gangs have bought into the residential market in Torrevieja in recent months.
These include several small-time, but nonetheless ruthless, former associates of slain criminals Declan Curran and Paul Cunningham and their former crime boss, 24-year-old John Daly, who is presently in Portlaoise prison.
Garda sources suggest that some lesser-known criminals are using the booming residential market in Torrevieja to disperse some of their combined ill-gotten gains. The move is similar to a scam which was operated successfully by members of the Keane and Ryan gangs in Limerick in 2002, when they sought to hide large sums of cash by giving money to reliable associates, who then purchased the properties on their behalf.
Among other new residents are top Northern loyalists, brothers Gary and Donald Murno, who reside in Orihuella, beside Torrevieja.
Spain is Europe's biggest dropping-off point for drugs, accounting for 60% of the continental total, according to Europol.
Cocaine mainly comes via South America, in through the hundreds of unprotected river estuaries in Galicia in the northwest. Hashish largely comes across the straits from Morocco and into the Costa del Sol.
Hundreds of millions of euro obtained in drug sales are laundered into cashbased tourism businesses and then into property on the continent.
Alicante has been rough ground for some Irish criminals. Spanish police believe that former paramilitaries are behind the disappearance of missing criminal Sean Dunne, who is believed to have been abducted last August.
Dunne, who is under investigation by the Criminal Assets Bureau, went missing shortly after arriving in Spain on 8 September last.
According to a Spanish newspaper, police believe Dunne's disappearance is the work of ex-IRA or ex-UDA members who have re-cast themselves as guns for hire in what can best be described as the new Old West.
It was here that the brutal Westies drugs gang leaders Shane Coates and Stephen Sugg fled after their shoot out with gardai at a safehouse in Virginia, Co Cavan, in Febrary 2003.
And it was from here that they disappeared amid claims that they fell foul of any one of a number of African and English criminals whom they associated with while in Alicante.
However, it is now believed that the duo arranged to have their abduction faked and are presently in hiding in Morocco. It is also here that one of the biggest drug gangs supplying dealers in Limerick and west Dublin, was dealt a major blow, just before Christmas, when the ringleader . . . a 40-year-old Dublin man . . . was arrested after a joint Irish, Dutch and Spanish police operation.
But there are many attractions to living in Torrevieja.
Few of the big players are well known in the city, giving them greater freedom to work and play.
There is also the added bonuses that Alicante airport is just 30 minutes drive away; the city boasts 320 days of sunshine a year; and temperatures in Torrevieja rarely fall below 150C in winter.
The ideal destination for drug dealers with some money to spare.
January 16, 2005
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