Organised crime unit join search for tiger kidnap gang

GARDAÍ from the national bureau of criminal investigation, the organised crime unit and local detectives in Drogheda, are working to try and identify the gang responsible for a tiger kidnapping which saw an An Post clerk forced to hand over up to €600,000 in cash.

None of the cash has been recovered so far and, although the investigation is at an early stage, no arrests have yet been made.

A team of 40 detectives are working on the crime which shocked many people because it involved the kidnapping and abduction of the worker’s fiance and their 10-week-old daughter.

Gardaí have appointed a family liaison officer as part of their response to the crime. They are preparing a report for Justice Minister Alan Shatter on the procedures followed.

It is believed preliminary indications are the specific agreed protocols may not have been followed exactly.

Meanwhile, An Post confirmed that it has made counselling and other services available to its staff in Drogheda who have been deeply shocked and distressed by their ordeal.

The events began on Monday night for Warren Nawn, who is a staff member at the West Street post office. Two men armed with a handgun forced their way into the couple’s Drogheda home. They were held overnight and the gang then took Mr Nawn to work on Tuesday morning while his fiance and daughter were taken to another unidentified location.

They were held there until word reached the gang that the cash had been dropped off by him at a specific location on the M1 near Drogheda.

He was instructed what to do by mobile phone calls.

Although he did as he was instructed it is understood that it was still a number of hours until his fiance and daughter were released. They were found walking along the road near Damastown near the Dublin/Meath border.

The West Street branch in Drogheda is the largest post office in Louth and one of the largest in the north-east region. It had just taken a delivery of cash to pay for the monthly children’s allowance when he was told to go in and get the cash.

A Dublin based gang is believed to have been behind the crime.

CCTV is being examined and forensic examinations continued yesterday of Mr Nawn’s house in Forest Park. The post office re-opened yesterday afternoon but with staff from a different branch.

The company is also carrying out an internal investigation into what happened.