Varied drug sources fuel bloody gang feud
The St Mary’s Park gang has strong connections with the Westies, who operate in Clondalkin in Dublin.
A well-known crime figure in St Mary’s Park, heavily involved in drugs, has returned to Limerick after spending two months with the Westies.
The St Mary’s Park gang has also developed links with John Gilligan’s old gang in Dublin through contacts made with Gilligan in Portlaoise Prison.
The Ballincurra Weston gang has major crime contacts in the North West of England and on the Continent, from where they get much of their supply.
A former Limerick publican who fled the country after the murder of gang boss Kieran Keane organises drugs shipments from the Netherlands to the Ballinacurra Weston gang.
Gardaí say he now moves between bases in Holland and Spain.
The members of the McCarthy/Dundon gang who murdered Kieran Keane used his house in Lisnagry after the murder to clean up.
The gun used to murder Keane was found in the Mulcair River near the former publican’s house.
The killers of night club security man Brian Fitzgerald also used the former publican’s house after that crime, before they left the city for England.
The main drugs gangs are also the main protagonists in the bloody feud which has already involved four murders.
The feud began after a falling out over a drugs deal between Eddie Ryan and a drugs gang leader in St Mary’s Park. Ryan was shot dead in the Moose Bar in November 2000 by two gunmen, one of whom was Kieran Keane.
Gardaí recently uncovered a major heroin operation in St Mary’s Park in an undercover sting operation.
The gangs use drugs shipments to bring in guns from the continent.
“Drugs and guns go like apple tart and cream,” said one garda source.
The Limerick Divisional Drugs Squad has an ongoing operation targeting the heroin pushers.
“Heroin leads to an increase in all kinds of crime,” a garda source said.
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