GARDAÍ believe highly professional gangs are looting copper and other valuable metals and shipping them out to China to feed the country’s insatiable industrial appetite.

UPWARDS of 50 gardaí carried out dawn raids yesterday on the homes of a gang whose members are suspected of being involved in scores of robberies in Cork, Limerick and Galway.

ANGRY businesspeople in the mid-Cork region are to write to Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy demanding more Garda manpower following a spate of robberies perpetrated by a violent gang.

GARDAÍ are searching for a gang who carried out a ram-raid on a toy factory and robbed a construction firm, hardware shop, tool hire business and carpet store.

AN 83-year-old German man died in a house fire near Macroom, west Cork, yesterday.

GARDAÍ in west Cork have launched a major drive against cannabis growers which has already resulted in the seizure of 80 plants worth approximately €10,000.

GARDAI´ are still searching for a gang who held a family at gunpoint and fired a shot into a bedroom ceiling during a raid on a rural pub.