Gangland figure held over assumed murder of couple five years ago

Gardaí investigating the involvement of a large organised crime gang in the disappearance and assumed murder of a couple five years ago have arrested a man.

The suspect, an Englishman in his 50s, was arrested in Co Meath under Section 50 Criminal Justice Act and was being held at Ashbourne Garda station. The legislation he was arrested under is used for the detention of suspected gang members and allows for their detention for up to seven days without charge.

The investigation is being carried out by gardaí attached to the Detective Unit at Ashbourne station as well as the Garda’s Serious Crime Review Team, or cold case squad, within the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Garda’s serious crimes squad.

One of the crimes the man is being questioned about is the abduction and assumed murder of a couple last seen in Co Meath just over five years ago.

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Willie Maughan (35) and Latvian national Anastasija (Anna) Varslavane (21) were last seen in Gormanstown, Co Meath, on April 14th, 2015.

Gardaí believe they were abducted by a criminal gang operating in Meath and Louth and whose leader has since become a central player in the worsening Drogheda gangland feud that has so far claimed at least three lives.

The gang leader believed to be behind the abduction and assumed murders of Mr Maughan and Ms Varslavane was also suspected of the gun murder of Benny Whitehouse (35) in Balbriggan in 2014.

Whitehouse was a drug dealer who was shot dead as he returned to his car after bringing his daughter into national school.

Gardaí believe Mr Maughan and Ms Varslavane were killed because the men who killed Whitehouse feared the couple was intent on supplying information to the Garda Síochána about the Whitehouse murder.

As well as the disappearance, assumed murders, of the missing couple, the Garda team that arrested the suspect on Tuesday morning in Co Meath is also investigating the discover of a cache of firearms and ammunition in Gormanstown in April, 2019, and again in January of this year.

On January 15th last gardaí working under Operation Stratus, which is targeting the gangs involved in the Drogheda feud, found a suspected firearm and ammunition hidden in a ditch in Gormanston. That operation was carried out by gardaí in Laytown and the Eastern Region Armed Support Unit.

In April, 2019, gardaí searched farmland in Gormanston and seized about 300 rounds of ammunition. No arrests were made at the time of the seizure in January or the seizure last April.

However, both incidents remain under investigation and the man arrested in Meath on Tuesday was being questioned about both.

More to follow.