DIRECT Action Against Drugs (DAAD) in Lurgan, Co Armagh, which admitted responsibility for killing an alleged drug dealer in the town last week, claims that it has no links with the IRA.
In an interview in yesterday's Irish News, two men who described themselves as members of DAAD said it was a totally separate organisation from the Provisionals.
They said that former republicans might have joined the group but it was "not concerned with the politics of members". The Alliance Party dismissed the claims as "rubbish" and said DAAD was simply a flag of convenience for the IRA.
The RUC and republican sources agree that DAAD does not exist as a separate paramilitary organisation and that the killings are authorised by the IRA Army Council.
Mr Ian Lyons (31) was shot dead on New Year's Day in Lurgan as he sat in a car with his girlfriend. His family denied he was a drugs dealer.
The DAAD spokesmen repeated allegations that Mr Lyons had been involved in the drugs trade and they warned that DAAD had also planned to kill two of his associates.
But they refused to say if it still intended to do so, or to name the men "They know who they are." The Irish News said that the interview was carried out in the Republic and that the men were masked.
The DAAD spokesmen withdrew a death threat against the owner of the Arena nightclub in Armagh whose premises they said were being used by pushers. They said Mr Donal Gorman was attempting to attract a different clientele by playing pop instead of rave music.
They claimed to have "loose links" with DAAD in Belfast which has claimed three killings over the past month.
But the men said the ecstasy drug scene in the North opened the way for hard drugs to enter the market. "Our intention is to stamp it out before it reaches that stage. If that involves the removal of people like Mr Lyons, so be it.