Operation Anvil not a failure, say gardaí

Gardaí this afternoon rejected claims that Operation Anvil had failed to tackle organised crime in Dublin.

They said the criminal fraternity was being hit by its efforts to crackdown on gangland activities in the capital.

About €1.6m worth of property - including cash and drugs - was seized in Anvil's first ten weeks.

Superintendent Kevin Donohue of the Garda press office said gangland murder was also down.

“I think while it can't be heralded as a success - since the start of Anvil we've had three murders, and that's three too many - of that three, one person is before the courts and only one of the three had any links to criminality,” he said.

“We're certainly not shouting that three murders is a success but coming off the pattern we had in the previous two to three months, this certainly is going in the right direction.”