90% hike in murders as gangland crime soars

FIGURES revealing the scale of gangland crime show an alarming rise in murders and shootings in the past three months.

The Central Statistics Office figures also show increases in bank robberies, burglaries, arson and drug production, compared with the same period last year.

A sharp rise in kidnappings also occurred, mainly due to a new offence of human trafficking. There were 15 such cases between April and June this year.