Suspected assassins arrested on way to collecting weapon

GARDAÍ foiled a gangland hit in Limerick yesterday when they swooped on three suspected assassins as they went to pick up the murder weapon.

Gardaí believe the men, two from the Middle East and one from Dublin, were hired to carry out a shooting an behalf of a feud gang.

The three were stopped by armed detectives as they went to pick up a powerful loaded automatic weapon from a car which had been sent ahead separately to the city.

Due to intensive surveillance operations in Limerick, local city gangs have been hiring outside gunmen to wage feud attacks.

The swoop happened at lunchtime, after the men had driven from Dublin.

In a follow-up search in Edward Street where they were arrested, a loaded automatic hand gun was found in a second parked vehicle which had been stolen.

The three men had met with members of the notorious McCarthy Dundon gang in the Ballinacurra Weston area just before their arrest.

Shortly after they left a house in Ballinacurra Weston, the men were intercepted by armed gardaí as they drove along Edward Street.

They were about to pick up the loaded gun from a parked car.

The three were brought to Henry Street Garda Station and were still being held under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act last night.

Following the arrests, a large force of gardaí carried out an a search of a house in the Balliacurra Weston area.

Supt Mahon said that a press for packaging cocaine was recovered.

Extra armed patrols are still in place in certain parts of Limerick city as part of Operation Oileán, which was put in place to tackle feud-related violence.