Gardaí track ‘enemies’ of slain drug supplier

GARDAÍ are tracking down associates of a slain criminal as part of their investigation into the murder of drug dealer Tommy Joyce on Wednesday.

The 20-year-old Traveller was shot dead at the halting site where he lived with his extended family near Darndale, north Dublin.

Detectives are examining whether he was murdered in retaliation for the gunning down of drug supplier, John “BJ” Clarke, last month.

Clarke, 21, from Darndale, was shot dead at the car park by his apartment in Artane on May 7.

Garda sources said criminals on Clarke’s side suspected Joyce of being involved in the planning of the murder. Clarke, who had a six-month-old baby, was described by gardaí as a “significant drug dealer”.

But gardaí yesterday stressed they were in the very early stages of their inquiries and that many people wanted Joyce dead.

“Tommy Joyce was very flash tempered. He was very unstable and had quite a few enemies. Most of his enemies would be in the drug fraternity,” said one garda source. Joyce was a target of local gardaí, including the Coolock Drug Unit, and national units, such as the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB).

He was named in court last January as a member of a wholesale drug trafficking gang operating out of the halting site at Grove Lane, just off the Darndale roundabout on the Malahide Road.

In that case, the CAB seized two cars off Joyce, worth in the region of €100,000.

The court heard that Joyce, then only 19, had amassed considerable wealth despite being unemployed.

In two raids on his gang in January 2008, as part of Operation Thaw, local gardaí retrieved 30kg of cocaine, worth around €2 million, as well as two firearms.

At the time, gardaí described the set-up as a “wholesale cocaine distribution centre”.

At a press conference yesterday, Superintendent Mark Curran of Coolock Garda Station said a number of men went into Grove Lane at 7.40pm and “singled out” Joyce.

He said the suspects may have left in a blue Ford Focus estate and travelled towards the Darndale roundabout. He said the car possibly linked to the crime was found burnt out at Balgriffin cottages in Coolock.

“I’m appealing to any members of the public who may have been in the vicinity of Malahide Road or Balgriffin Cottages between 7pm and 8pm [on Wednesday] and who may have witnessed anything suspicious or unusual to contact us.”

He said there were a number of other people in Grove Lane at the time and gardaí were speaking to them.

Local parish priest, Fr Tom Colreavy said he knew the Joyce family very well, but not the victim.

“I’m absolutely shocked. This is another cruel, sudden death. It’s terrible.”

Fine Gael justice spokesman Charlie Flanagan said the ability of the force to combat gun crime was been seriously hampered by “swingeing cutbacks” of around €35m in the Garda overtime budget for this year.