Three arrested in probe into security van raids

Three men were arrested today as part of a garda crackdown on security van robberies.

Detectives monitoring the cash-in-transit vans in the west Dublin area moved to arrest three men in the car park of the Spa Hotel in Lucan.

Officers said the three men were arrested in a car. It is understood that a firearm was also seized.

A garda spokesman said: “It was part of an ongoing operation into monitoring the movements of cash.

“Obviously we would be actively watching some people in particular and checking out suspicious cars in areas.”

The three men – one is his 20s, another in his 30s and another in his 40s - were detained under Section 30 of the Offences against the State Act.

The men are being questioned at Lucan, Rowanstown and Ballyfermot Garda stations.

In the spate of recent cash-in-transit robberies, raiders last month made off with around €2.4m after they hijacked a Brinks Allied security van during an unscheduled coffee stop at a petrol station at Skelly’s Lane in Dublin’s Artane.