Dublin burglars raid Cork homes

Gardaí have put on extra patrols in North and East Cork following a spate of burglaries, many of which are being perpetrated in broad daylight by criminals from Dublin.

In recent weeks there have been dozens of break-ins, mainly to houses in the likes of Mitchelstown, Fermoy, Rathcormac, Conna, Ballynoe, and Midleton.

A senior garda said it is believed that two main gangs are behind the spree.

They are driving high-powered cars and may have used spotters to carry out reconnaissance before hitting their targets.

Gardaí believe the gangs are driving down the motorway from Dublin, but coming off at toll booths to avoid being captured on CCTV. They then rejoin the motorway after the booths.

“Typically they are breaking into houses which are unoccupied between 11am and 6pm,” said a Garda spokesman.

The gangs are primarily looking for cash and jewellery and, once they have got their haul, head back to Dublin before it is dark. One car the gardaí are particularly interested in is a black Volkswagen Golf.

The spokesman said that with warm weather predicted, gardaí are concerned people in the region will leave their windows open and present the gangs with easy pickings.

“We are asking people to secure their windows, doors, and make sure they turn their alarms on when leaving their homes,” said the spokesman.

Last Monday, gardaí conducted a major checkpoint on the southbound lanes of the M8 near Fermoy.

Uniformed officers, detectives, and the dog unit were deployed at the checkpoint which Lagan Projects Ltd helped to set up.

Gardaí said “the high-visibility policing exercise” was in part “to reduce the motorway network being used for criminal activity”, especially for burglaries and drug shipments.

Garda crime prevention officers and @ifamedia at Garda HQ this morning discussing rural crime& http://t.co/XGi5gPYq7z pic.twitter.com/dBQvFvY8fd

— Garda Info (@gardainfo) July 1, 2015

The spokesman said that people in both urban and rural areas of the Cork North Garda Division should be extremely vigilant and keep an eye on neighbours’ houses, especially if they know they are out.

“If a person sees a strange car in an area and a couple of strangers in it, they should immediately contact their local Garda station,” he said.

The spokesman said they suspect that Cork City-based criminals were also on the loose in some rural parts of the region.

Last month the senior garda in charge of Cork City, Chief Supt Michael Finn, said Dublin criminals were responsible for a recent surge in burglaries on his patch. He said they had been displaced by a major operation against them in Dublin and gone to Cork.

Chief Supt Finn said that between March and May, reported burglaries in the Cork City Garda Division soared by 54%.

As a result gardaí in the city mounted a special anti-burglary operation to counteract this. It is likely that the Dublin gangs have now switched their attention instead to North and East Cork.