TWO BUILDERS and a number of gangland criminals have been arrested as part of a Garda investigation into figures from the construction trade who have allegedly been paying an organised crime gang to collect debts for them.
The Garda’s organised crime unit recently became involved in the investigation when what sources described as “menacing demands” escalated into more serious incidents.
In one case, the car of a man who owed money to a builder was destroyed in an arson attack.
Gardaí believe the gang, hired by two Dublin-based builders to collect debts, is led by a middle-aged man with a long history of involvement in both business and organised crime in Dublin.
He was one of five people arrested yesterday morning, all of whom were still being questioned last night.
The men, including the two builders, were arrested during searches at six properties in Raheny and Leixlip, both Dublin, and at other addresses in Co Kildare and Co Meath.
The arrested men are aged from 28 to 77 years and are being held under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act. They can be questioned without charge for up to 72 hours.
They are being held in Dún Laoghaire, Blackrock and Dundrum Garda stations in south Dublin. The more serious attempts to collect debts using threats of violence and arson occurred in south Dublin.
Yesterday’s operation was carried out by members of the organised crime unit and gardaí from the Dublin metropolitan region east division.
The arrested gang leader, who is in his 60s, has been active in organised crime in Dublin for several decades and has served a lengthy sentence for drug dealing.
He was previously involved in a legitimate business, but in more recent years has been targeted by the Criminal Assets Bureau.
He remains a man of means and is believed to have funded drug deals carried out by a notorious drugs gang in Finglas, Dublin. That gang was once led by Martin “Marlo” Hyland and later by Eamon Dunne, both of whom were shot dead, in 2006 and last April respectively.
The 77-year-old man arrested yesterday is a close associate of the gang leader.
Both have in the past been linked to the republican movement, and in this case are believed to have been hired by the builders under investigation to source younger criminals to demand money using threats of violence.
The home of a notorious gang leader in his late 30s from Dublin, but now based in Co Kildare, was also searched during the Garda operation yesterday morning. However, the Kildare-based gang leader was not among those arrested.