Machine guns and ammunition seized and seven men arrested as gardaí thwart 'armed attack'
'To catch people with firearms and ammunition tends to mean they are en route to use them', according to one garda source, after the seven men, thought to be from two gangs, were arrested.
Gardaí may have prevented serious injury or worse after they foiled a suspected violent extortion or armed attack on one crime group by a rival gang.
Detectives suspect the escalating feud involves a Belfast-based gang and a Romanian criminal network.
In a local investigation, gardaí in Cavan carried out a coordinated operation and stopped four cars in the area and arrested seven men.
They seized a number of firearms — including, it is thought, two machine guns — along with ammunition in one car and balaclavas in another vehicle.
Officers suspect that members of one of the groups were on their way to target a man running what officers believe is a front for criminal activity.
“To catch people with firearms and ammunition tends to mean they are en route to use them,” said one garda source.
Some of those arrested have addresses in the North, including Belfast and Tyrone, while others are thought to be foreign nationals.
This may suggest that members of both outfits were arrested in the operation.
A second garda source said: “There was some serious falling out between these gangs.
It is not clear what is the nature of the feud, with one source saying one gang was trying to muscle in on the activity of another.
A man linked to one of the gangs runs a business in the county, suspected as being a front for criminal activity.
The Criminal Assets Bureau previously secured the return of around €100,000 from this man, though the sale of various assets and the seizure of cash.
A Garda statement said: “Cavan Gardaí have arrested seven men following an operation targeting a potential Blackmail/Extortion plot in Co Cavan, yesterday afternoon, Sunday."
The statement said that members in the district, acting on information they had obtained, identified four cars in the area and conducted a number of stop and searches.
“A stop and search of the first car resulted in the arrest of its occupants, two men in their 20s, under Section 15 of the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001," it said.
“A stop and search of a second car resulted in the discovery of a number of balaclavas. The three male occupants all aged in their 30s were arrested," again, under the same act.
The statement added: “A stop and search of a third car resulted in the discovery of a number of concealed firearms and ammunition. The sole occupant of the vehicle, a man in his 40s was arrested," also under the 2001 act.
It said a fourth vehicle was stopped and searched and the sole occupant, a man in his 30s was arrested, again under the same law.
It said that all seven men were detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984 at Ballyconnell and Cavan Garda Stations.
A number of mobile phones and other items have been seized.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
