Police examine gun in Spanish drugs probe
Expat Noel O’Connor, 44, was arrested with another man after allegedly trying to dispose of the weapon in a rundown part of Malaga.
Detectives are now checking firearms’ databases across the country to see if they can link the gun to any crimes.
Three Irish gangsters have lost their lives and a fourth has cheated death in gangland-style killings over the past three years believed to be connected to the illegal drugs trade.
Officers are preparing for more violence this summer as the recession squeezes drugs profits and rival criminals prepare to fill the gap left by drugs kingpin Christy Kinahan, currently on bail after his Costa del Sol arrest last May.
Tests on the seized weapon are expected to take several months to come back.
A Malaga National Police source said: “The obvious question we’re asking is whether the gun has been used in any crimes.
“Each police force across Spain has its own weapons database and there’s a central one in Madrid and they’re the checks we’re doing at the moment. We’re not ruling anything out for the time being. The results take time to come back.”
O’Connor was arrested with another man in the early hours of February 16 in a rundown neighbourhood of Malaga.
Officers had been called to the area to aid a sick person — but turned their attentions to the two Irishmen after allegedly spotting O’Connor kick an object under a van and walk away.
A spokesman for local police in Malaga, who made the arrests, said: “The object turned out to be a pistol with a 9mm bullet inside a sock.
“One of the men, a 44-year-old Irishman, was arrested on suspicion of illegal possession of weapons and handed over to an investigating judge after police questioning.
“The other man, a 33-year-old Irishman he was with, was taken to a police station to be identified.”
He is thought to have been remanded in custody after appearing before an investigating judge.
Dublin gangster Paddy Doyle was shot dead during a drive-by shooting near the Costa del Sol resort of Estepona in February 2008.
Irish drugs boss Peter “Fatso” Mitchell narrowly survived an assassination attempt at a parked bar near Marbella in October 2008.
Drugs trafficker Richard Keogh, originally from Cabra, was shot dead in Torrequebrada near Benalmadena in February 2009.
None of the crimes have been solved.
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