Arrest of 3 men foils suspected bomb attack plot

A SECRET operation by the Garda anti-gang unit has prevented a likely bomb attack.

Three members of one of Dublin’s most notorious gangs were arrested in the late-night swoop in the Ballyfermot area of south west Dublin.

The Organised Crime Unit (OCU), supported by the heavily armed Emergency Response Unit (ERU), cornered two cars on Ballyfermot Road at 11.20pm on Monday.

During a search on the two vehicles they spotted a suspicious device. The army bomb disposal team was called and the two occupants of the cars, aged in their late 20s and early 30s, were arrested.

Army bomb experts said the device was a viable improvised explosive device (IED), ie, a bomb. They made it safe at the scene before taking it away to a secure military location for analysis.

In a follow up operation at a house in the Wheatfield area, gardaí recovered a large quantity of ammunition and a man aged in his late 20s was arrested.

Garda sources said the people arrested were members of a gang embroiled in the Crumlin-Drimnagh-Rialto feud.

This gang, led by a man who has spent much of his time in Spain in recent years, is engaged in a violent feud with another gang in the area, which has claimed in the region of 14 lives in ten years.

There have been reports that this gang boss has recently returned to Dublin with the intention of ordering further attacks against the rival outfit, which is led by a man locked up in prison for murder.

Gardaí suspect the two men in the cars may have been on their way to plant a pipe bomb at a house of a target.

“The OCU were on to them and knew what they were doing,” said one garda source.

It is understood the ammunition seized were shotgun cartridges. Gardaí suspect the gang may have been using the powder in the cartridges as explosives in pipe bombs.

A defence forces spokesman said the bomb disposal team arrived at the scene at 12.10am yesterday.

All three men arrested are being detained under section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act.