One of State’s most prolific armed robbers arrested in Meath

One of the State’s s most prolific armed robbers has been arrested during the course of an attempted robbery on a cash-in-transit van in Co Meath.

The suspect has been described by Garda as a “high level target” and was detained along with two other men well known to the force.

Gardaí recovered a firearm while they were arresting the three men in their 30s outside a bank in Dunboyne.

The men had been under surveillance and were being probed in an intelligence led operation.

Friday morning's raid was lead by the Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau along with a number of Garda units, including the Special Crime Task Force.

Key target

The key target in custody is a 38-year-old from Dublin who gardaí believe has been behind a series of armed robberies, including tiger kidnappings which involve hostage taking.

In one such incident in recent years, he kidnapped a man working for a cash-in-transit company along with the man’s wife and other family members.

The man’s relatives were taken from their south Dublin home and only released when a large sum of money had been taken from his place of work and given to one of the gang members.

The chief suspect behind that tiger kidnapping, now in custody having been arrested during the course of Friday’s attempted armed raid, has been living in Co Meath for some time.

He has had addresses in both west Dublin and Co Meath in recent years. He was previously charged with an armed robbery involving hostage taking but was acquitted after his lawyers argued some of the evidence was inadmissible.

His accomplices during that robbery fled overseas, including to Spain and Australia, though one is currently awaiting trial for a serious armed robbery offence.

In a statement on Friday morning, the Garda said they “ intercepted a number of high level targets during the course of a cash in transit robbery outside a bank in Dunboyne”.

"Two men were arrested at the scene and another man was arrested a short distance away. The three men in their 30s are detained at Blanchardstown and Finglas Garda Stations. A firearm was recovered at the scene."