Armed gardaí hunt drug dealer's killer

Armed officers were on the streets today as gardaí stepped up their investigation into the murder of a crime boss and an apprentice plumber.

Checkpoints were set up in the Finglas area of Dublin and gardaí were carrying out door to door investigations into the brutal gangland killing.

Drug dealer Martin “Marlo” Hyland, 39, and 20-year-old Anthony Campbell, who gardaI said was in the wrong place at the wrong time, were gunned down during the attack at Scribblestown housing estate yesterday morning.

Killers armed with an automatic pistol struck at around 9am in the quiet cul-de-sac only minutes after a relative of Hyland had taken children from the house to school.

A colleague of the young plumber from St Michans House, north inner city Dublin, returned from buying supplies to discover the chilling scene and raise the alarm.

Detectives investigating the crime believe the getaway car was abandoned and burnt out.

They are appealing for anyone who saw a black Volkswagen Passat, registration number 06-D-27432, between 8.30am and 10am as it was driven along Scribblestown Park, Griffith Avenue Extension, Finglas Dual Carriageway, Ballygall Road and Glasilawn where it was found burnt-out.

Hyland, who was one of the country’s biggest drug dealers, was hit at least five times in the head and body as he slept in an upstairs bedroom in a relative’s house.

Mr Campbell is believed to have been shot once.

It is understood Hyland had been warned by gardaí that his life was under threat and took steps to escape attack by moving from house to house over recent weeks.