THE CRIMINAL Assets Bureau (Cab) has been granted permission by the High Court to sell vehicles valued at more than €100,000 confiscated from two members of one of the feuding criminal gangs in Limerick.
The vehicles, a Toyota Landcruiser and Toyota Avensis, were owned by Phillip Collopy and Brian Scanlon. Both men belong to a crime gang in Limerick once led by murdered drug dealer Kieran Keane. The case is the latest in a series of Cab actions relating to Operation Platinum, a major Garda investigation into the assets of Limerick's feuding gangs.
A team of 250 gardaí, from Limerick, Cork, Kerry and the Cab, raided 150 premises in Limerick city and in Co Clare and Co Tipperary in May. Searches were also carried out at residential addresses and at the offices of legal and financial companies.
In the case before the High Court yesterday, Mr Justice Feeney granted Cab officers an interlocutory order under Section 3 of the Proceeds of Crime Act.
The order effectively brings to an end an owner's rights over an asset. The court will in due course grant a disposal order confirming the sale of the vehicles, allowing the Cab to realise their value.
The action was based on the argument that the vehicles represent the proceeds of crime. Neither man contested the action.
Philip Collopy (28), St Ita's Street, St Mary's Park, Limerick, was jailed for two years for violent disorder in 2003. His brother is Brian Collopy (35) of Fedamore, Co Limerick, whose house was seized by the Cab two years ago as part of a €470,000 settlement.
On the night Kieran Keane was killed in January 2003, members of the McCarthy-Dundon murder gang tried to lure Philip Collopy and his brother Kieran to a meeting so that they could be shot dead with Keane.
The other man at the centre of yesterday's case, Brian Scanlon (28), is originally from Cork but has had addresses in St Mary's Park in Limerick city and in Murroe, Co Limerick. He has two drug-related convictions.
Scanlon was once aligned to the McCarthy-Dundon side of the feud. Members of that gang are now serving life for the murder of Kieran Keane. However, he later switched allegiances to the rival Keane-Collopy gang.
The Irish Times understands from senior Garda sources that aside from yesterday's case, a number of others are in the final stages of preparation. Those investigations centre on the ownership of houses, vehicles and cash.
Those assets were either found or identified during the raids in May. Drugs, firearms and ammunition were seized in the raids as well as documentation relating to asset ownership. The searches were carried out on the basis of evidence gathered by Cab profilers in Limerick working with detectives.
In May, gardaí were granted court orders against 12 people from whom money was seized during the searches. The cash, which included euro, sterling and dollars, totalled almost €250,000 and was seized from homes in Limerick city and Clare.
Three weeks ago, gardaí also seized €150,000 held in credit union accounts in Limerick on behalf of some of the feuding criminals.