The man whose body was found dumped south of the Border in Co Louth yesterday is believed by the Garda to have been killed by members of a major drugs gang with republican paramilitary connections in the Border area.
The man is understood to have been suspected by the gang of having given the Garda National Drug Bureau information which led to a number of significant seizures of amphetamines and cocaine in the Meath-Kildare area in recent months.
The seizures were among the most significant made in the past two years by gardai.
It is understood the man came under suspicion by other gang members in the past two weeks. He was kidnapped and is believed to have been tortured before being shot dead and dumped at the Border. There were knifemarks to the upper body and gardai could not say in advance of the post-mortem if a gun had been used.
Earlier yesterday there had been suspicion that the man had been kidnapped and murdered by one of the breakaway republican groups in the Border who have also been hit by Garda successes.
However, according to sources last night, it appeared to have been established that the man had links with a cross-Border drugs gang which has links to criminals in the Netherlands and to Provisional IRA figures in the Border area.
It is believed the republican paramilitaries, who have experience in torturing and securing "confessions" from suspected informants may have been holding the man in the north Louth area in recent days.
The deputy state pathologist, Dr Marie Cassidy, was last night carrying out a post mortem on the man, whose identity was being withheld.
The man, who is aged about 30, was found concealed in a dry ditch on the side of a remote country road at Roskeagh, Kilcurry, about 200 metres from the Border at around noon yesterday. The body was partially clothed and tightly wrapped in heavy grey plastic. Gardai believe the man was killed elsewhere between 24 and 36 hours earlier.