The bodies of two men – believed to be the missing leaders of an Irish crime gang – have been recovered in Alicante.

Cormac O’Keeffe reports from Albufeira on the wave of Irish crime in Spain and Portugal.

Gangs of criminals in west Dublin have long been engaged in turf wars but they are now turning their weapons on each other, writes Caroline O’Doherty.

GARDAÍ believe the execution-style murder of criminal Andrew “Madser” Gilligan may trigger a round of revenge killings by drugs gangs battling for supremacy in west Dublin.

REPORTS that a notorious criminal may be in hiding in North Africa were the latest in a growing number of hoax or false sightings, gardaí yesterday said.

DETECTIVES continued to question the daughter of jailed crime boss John Gilligan yesterday after she was stopped at Dublin Airport carrying a suitcase stuffed with €20,000 in cash.

Police in Spain investigating the disappearance of two alleged leaders of a Dublin drugs gang are tonight questioning two Irish women.

ONE doubting detective has called it The Spanish Job. The rumoured abduction of the notorious Westies in Alicante could be a con job.

The family of abducted Westies crime boss Shane Coates has reported his disappearance to the gardaí.

Police in Spain have confirmed gardaí have asked them to investigate the alleged disappearance of two leading members of the so-called ‘Westies’ criminal gang.

BAKING in the Mediterranean sun, Alicante, on Spain’s Costa Blanca, is a popular destination for Irish holidaymakers.

The suspected leader of the so-called “Westies” criminal gang is reportedly feared dead after being kidnapped along with a close associate near a Spanish holiday resort 10 days ago.

GARDAÍ were yesterday hunting down a fugitive gang boss believed to have returned to the country to avenge the murder of an associate.