Gardaí today found a car used by an armed gang that kidnapped a bank official's family and stole more than €500,000 last week.
The Ford Focus car, that belonged to the north Co Dublin bank official, was found today in Slane, Co Meath. Gardaí had earlier appealed to land owners in the north east to be on the look-out for the vehicle.
A Garda spokeswoman said the car was spotted on the side of the road near Slane Castle by local gardaí who alerted investigating officers. She said it had been removed for forensic examination.
The find came as two more people were arrested over last week's 'tiger' raid on the Balbriggan bank. A total of 11 people are now being questioned over the incident which began on Wednesday night.
The latest arrests were of two men, aged 24 and 30, in the Co Cavan area. They are being held under Section 30 of the Offences Against The State Act in Bailieboro Garda Station.
The raid began when four armed and masked men called to the Swords home of Gerry Smith, the assistant manager of the Balbriggan branch of the Bank of Ireland on Wednesday at 8.30pm. They took Mr Smith's wife Margaret, and sons Killian (23) and Conor (17), and held them hostage overnight.
The men ordered Mr Smith to go to work on Thursday and withdraw €500,000 which was taken to a collection point in Malahide. Around the same time, Mr Smith's family were taken from where they had been held and left in a car at the side of Slane Road, at Oldbridge in Co Meath. It was in the nearby village of Slane that the stolen car was found today.
Slane, Oldbridge and Balbriggan are all in close promimity to the M1 Dublin to Belfast motorway.
