Swoop on top gangsters foils assassination plan

Independant.ie wrote: »

Five suspected gangland figures were in garda custody last night after armed officers foiled what they believe to have been an assassination plan.

Detectives seized a loaded Glock handgun and 14 rounds of ammunition when they intercepted a car and raided a house.

They are satisfied that a gang of well-known crime suspects were on their way to carry out a 'hit' on a target from a rival group.

The garda strike followed a surveillance operation by the Organised Crime Unit and was spearheaded by the Emergency Response Unit.

Officers have been carrying out a series of similar operations, targeting key crime figures, in a bid to prevent gangland shootings in Dublin and other major cities.

This was the second vital interception by gardai in less than a week. Last Friday, uniformed gardai prevented another serious crime when they stopped two suspects and seized a loaded handgun and ammunition in west Dublin.

The latest swoops were carried out in Celbridge and Lucan on Monday evening after the five suspects were believed to have met in a hotel in west Dublin earlier in the afternoon.

Detained

Three of the suspects were detained when gardai followed a Golf car into a housing estate in Celbridge in north Kildare at around 5pm.

Gardai were not certain of the identity of the likely target and waited until they saw some of the occupants of the Golf walk towards a house in a cul de sac nearby.

In a search of wasteground beside the house, officers found the Glock and discovered it was loaded with 14 rounds.

One of the men was wearing a bullet-proof vest. The man, who is from north Dublin, had been the subject of an assassination attempt earlier this year after a row with criminals from Coolock and Ballymun.

Although he survived by barricading himself in a house, he was shot twice.

Another suspect arrested in the Celbridge estate was a close associate of gangland figure, John 'BJ' Clarke, who was murdered as he and two friends were driving into an underground car park at an apartment block in Artane, last May. He was hit by at least six bullets from a semi-automatic pistol.

Gardai seized two more suspects when they stopped a Volvo car in Lucan in west Dublin.

Officers are still searching for two other cars which they believe were being used by the gang.

Last night, a senior officer extended the detention period of the five men, who range in age from 18 to 46 years. Two of the five are being held at Newbridge garda station, two in Lucan and one in Leixlip.

They are being questioned under section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act, which allows the gardai to hold them without charge for a maximum of three days.

Gardai say one of those detained is closely involved with a major gang boss from west Dublin while another is suspected of having links to a well-known criminal in the north inner city and a wealthy figure operating in south west Dublin and Kildare.

Last Friday, uniformed gardai detained a 26-year-old suspected gangland figure following a chase at Mellowes Road in Finglas. Also held was a 14-year-old youth in a school uniform.

Gardai seized a loaded Webley revolver and six rounds of ammunition. The two suspects were later released without charge.

A file is now being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Senior officers said last night that the targeting and surveillance of key crime figures would continue in the run-up to Christmas in a bid to prevent a fresh outbreak of gang-related shootings.

InReality wrote: »

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/swoop-on-top-gangsters-foils-assassination-plan-1976545.html

Haven't the guards got better things to do ?

Steyr wrote: »

Well done to An Garda Siochana, OP what kind of a statement was that to make?:rolleyes:

My name is URL wrote: »

The 'let them all killl each other' idea hasn't worked too well in Compton