Armed Garda swoop thwarts possible gangland murder

ELITE Garda units prevented a possible gangland murder, robbery or kidnapping when they swooped on an armed gang just after midnight yesterday.

Officers seized two firearms and arrested five men when they intercepted two cars in north Kildare at 1am.

The five men, from Finglas in north Dublin, are likely to face charges for firearms offences.

The operation was the result of an intelligence-led operation by the Organised Crime Unit (OCU), assisted by the Emergency Response Unit (ERU).

The OCU conducts covert surveillance on the country’s top criminal outfits, particularly those involved in gang feuds, armed robberies and tiger kidnappings.

As well as responding to crimes that have been committed, the unit is tasked with preventing and thwarting planned criminal activities and shootings.

“The gang were obviously out on a job. They had two guns, a shotgun and a handgun ready,” said a Garda source.

He said it was not yet clear if they were about to carry out a shooting against a rival gang, or if they were about to commit an armed robbery. Given it was the early hours of Sunday, the intended target could have been a pub or hotel, but not a bank or post office.

Likewise, the Garda source said it would be an unusual time to conduct a tiger kidnapping, as their target could not access any cash for another 24 hours or more.

If the gang was about to commit a murder, there are a range of violent feuds across the city, in addition to possible revenge attacks for three gangland murders in the last three weeks.

These include the murder of Continuity IRA man Liam Kenny at his home in Clondalkin, west Dublin, last Thursday and the murder of Michael Taylor in north Dublin the previous Monday.

Gardaí are in a constant state of readiness in regard to tiger kidnappings involving bank, security or post office staff and their families, as well as business kidnappings of high wealth individuals.

The Garda source said the OCU called in the ERU (the force’s heavily armed response unit) once they established the gang were on the move. The team pulled in two cars in Kill village in north Kildare at 1am. They arrested five men, all aged in their 30s and recovered the two firearms. They have been sent off for fingerprint and DNA examination as well as ballistics tests.

The suspects were split up and detained at either Clondalkin or Ballyfermot Garda Stations. They are detained under section 30 Offences Against the State Act 1939, which allows for up to 72 hours’ detention.