Rise in arrests under gang laws

Gardaí have arrested 24 people under emergency anti-gang laws within the last year.

Garda Commissioner, Drew Harris, said organised crime groups remained “a significant threat” and that anti-gang laws, which target their leadership and membership, were key to garda policing successes.

The Criminal Justice (Amendment) Act 2009 declared that jury courts were inadequate to secure the effective administration of justice and directed that certain gang offences be heard in the non-jury Special Criminal Court, unless otherwise directed by the DPP.

The gang offences, set out under the Criminal Justice Act 2006, include: directing the activities of a criminal organisation (Section 71A); participating in, or contributing to, certain activities of a criminal organisation (S 72); and committing an offence for a criminal organisation (S 73).

The 2009 Act was introduced to protect the justice system from being “subverted” by criminal groups, including potential intimidation of juries.

A report on the act, by Justice Minister, Charlie Flanagan, produced as part of the Oireachtas process of renewing the legislation, showed that there were 24 arrests between June 1, 2018 and May 31, 2019.

This included 20 arrests under S 72 and four under S 73. The 24 arrests compare to 19 in the June 2017-May 2018 period and 33 arrests in the June 2016-May 2017 period, during the height of garda operations against the Kinahan crime cartel. There were 17 arrests in the same period the previous year.

The minister’s report states that according to the garda commissioner, there have been 354 arrests since the 2009 act came into force.

“To date, nine individuals have been charged under section 72 and two individuals have been charged under section 71A,” said the report.

“Six persons have been convicted for offences pursuant to section 72.”

It said that two convictions were recorded during the current reporting period, under section 72, following guilty pleas.

The report said serious organised crime continued to present a “serious challenge” to the State.

“There is evidence of a number of criminal gangs in the State engaged in murder, smuggling, and supplying drugs, and planning and carrying out kidnapping and robberies,” it said.

The report said significant resources had been deployed against organised crime, including against those gangs involved in ongoing ‘feuds’ in Dublin and Drogheda.

It said Operation Hybrid continued to coordinate responses to violent crime in Dublin and that more than 50 murders had been prevented.

It said Operation Stratus was ongoing in Drogheda.

The report said that in the view of Commissioner Harris, organised crime groups “continue to operate and remain a significant threat” and that the success of gardaí in this area was “in no small measure” due to the laws available.

The report comes as gardaí recovered two more firearms in the Finglas area of west Dublin, where gardaí are dealing with a violent local gang feud, one of a number across the Dublin West Division.

The local Garda Community Action Team searched two parked cars and recovered a single-barrel sawn-off shotgun and a .22 pistol with four rounds of ammunition.