Gardaí were last night questioning a man after a major sting operation was set up to foil attempts by a Northern criminal gang to extort money from a businessman in the midlands.
The man under arrest is a 33-year-old from Belfast who was detained after he went to pick up a large sum of money in a car in Co Kildare yesterday.
The extortion attempt began last week when a three-man gang, all believed to be from Belfast, walked into a business premises in Mullingar, Co Westmeath, and demanded to speak to the owner.
They told him that he owed €30,000 to an associate of theirs and that they were calling to collect the money. The businessman said he knew nothing of any €30,000 debt.
However, the three men insisted he should pay the sum of money. They threatened him that if the cash was not paid in a matter of days his business would be burned to the ground.
In the following days the gang made further contact reiterating their threats and demanding that €30,000 be paid to them immediately.
After a number of further contacts the gang agreed to reduce the sum to €10,000. They told the businessman that if the reduced sum was paid his business would not be damaged.
At that point the businessman reported the extortion attempt to gardaí in Mullingar. Supt Pádraig Rattigan leading the investigation, requested the assistance of the Emergency Response Unit (ERU) and National Surveillance Unit (NSU).
When the gang contacted the businessman again he agreed to leave €10,000 in cash in a parked car in Maynooth village, Co Kildare.
The vehicle was left in the village by arrangement yesterday. However, while the extortion gang believed their plan was working, members of the NSU and armed members of the ERU took up covert positions in Maynooth.
When one of the gang appeared just after 1pm to take the money from the car the armed gardaí emerged from their hiding places and arrested him.
He was taken to Mullingar Garda station where he was being detained last night under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act. The suspect is from the Twinbrook estate on the outskirts of west Belfast.
There had been no further arrests last night but investigations were continuing. Gardaí do not believe there was any paramilitary involvement in the case.
While the investigation is still at an early stage gardaí do not believed it is linked in any way to the abduction of a couple from a rented house in Mullingar in April. The man and the woman were taken to Derry where the man was shot in the ankles, in an apparent row over money.