Call for action over armed raids

LABOUR yesterday called on the gardaí to step up operations against armed gangs involved in cash heists.

An estimated €2 million has been stolen in a series of raids in recent months. At least two gangs are suspected of organising the raids, one from the northside of Dublin, the other based on the southside.

Joe Costello, Labour’s justice spokesman, said: “These gangs are highly dangerous. These robberies are brutal, traumatic events for all concerned as shots have been fired and baseball bats wielded.

“Sooner or later, a security guard merely going about their work, or an innocent bystander, is going to be killed in the course of one of these raids.”

He said the frequency of raids - which rose from 15 in the first quarter of 2003 to 23 in the first three months of this year - was alarming and demonstrates the easy access gangs have to weapons.

More than two years ago, the gardaí set up Operation Discovery. A team made up of members from the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the Special Detective was charged with targeting criminal gangs from Dublin.

One operation involving members of the team ended in the death of Garda Sergeant John Eiffe, who was shot by a colleague as officers thwarted a bank robbery in Abbeyleix.

The Garda has confirmed that Operation Discovery is ongoing.

While Justice Minister Michael McDowell has promised to tighten laws in relation to both gangs and firearms offences, few of those involved in cash in transit heists have been brought before the courts.

There were 72 transit robberies in 2002, yet criminal proceedings began in just eight them, four of which related to relatively minor offences.

Major cash in transit robberies - where between €80,000 and nearly €1 million has been stolen - have taken place across Greater Dublin this year.

Before a raid in Bettystown Monday, raiders struck in Drogheda, Swords, Cornelscourt, Castleknock, Maynooth, Blackrock, Enfield in Co Meath and UCD.