Westies murders suspect to appear in court
The 35-year-old man is considered a key suspect in relation to the discovery of two bodies in Spain, thought to be those of missing Dublin criminals.
Gardaí believe the victims are Shane Coates and Stephen Sugg, leaders of the notorious Westies gang, who disappeared from Alicante, south eastern Spain, in January 2004.
Official confirmation may take a number of weeks as DNA and dental records are checked.
It was reported in Spain yesterday that the two men were shot in the mouth.
The remains were found under six feet of concrete near a warehouse in Catral, 40km from Alicante, on Monday.
A small garda team, led by Chief Supt Cormac Gordon of the Garda National Drugs Unit (GNDU), flew out to the area on Sunday with that information. Spanish police arrested an Irishman in the Catral area on Wednesday morning in connection with the bodies.
The man, from Finglas, north Dublin, has been living in the Catral area with his parents for around five years.
He was known to local police and to the GNDU, but was not considered to be a major player in the drugs trade.
But reports emerged yesterday that the man was suspected of being involved in organising shipments of drugs from Spain to Ireland.
Gardaí confirmed yesterday that the man was suspected of being involved in a robbery in Dublin in 2000 and that he fled to Spain before he could be charged.
Two other men were charged and convicted of the robbery.
The man was arrested at 8am on Wednesday and can be held in custody for 72 hours, by which stage he must be brought before a magistrate.
He is expected to be brought before a court in the town of Orihuela later today.
Depending on the evidence available to police, the magistrate will decide whether to remand him in custody for another period, which can last for a year or more, or be released.
