Gardaí investigating the activities of organised crime gangs in Dublin yesterday raided 20 premises across the city seizing a number of firearms and vehicles as well as drugs and cash, writes Conor Lally.
Also seized was a substantial amount of financial records belonging to one of the main gangs suspected of a series of cash-in-transit robberies in the greater Dublin area which has netted €8 million since the start of last year.
Two men were arrested, both of whom work for the motor tax office. They were being questioned last night on suspicion of providing information about vehicles and their owners to one of the main gangs behind the robberies. Gardaí believe this information was being used in the planning and execution of robberies.
The seized financial documents were found by members of the Criminal Assets Bureau (Cab) when they raided the business premises of an accountant whose services gardaí believe have been used by one of the gangs.
Senior officers are hopeful that a detailed analysis of these records will lead to the recovery of some of the stolen money and assets bought with the proceeds of the robberies.
A commercial garage in west Dublin also being used by the gangs was raided and a number of vehicles were seized. A total of six vehicles were seized by gardaí around the city.
As well as the cars and financial records, a large quantity of cannabis was seized along with at least €60,000 in cash. A pistol, two air rifles, a number of imitation firearms and stolen cheque books were also found.
The searches were conducted under Operation Anvil, a specialist Garda operation established two weeks ago to target armed gangs and gun crime in Dublin. Officers working on Operation Delivery, which is specifically investigating the robbery of money from cash-in-transit vans, were also involved.
Announcing Operation Anvil in the Dáil last week, the Minister for Justice Mr McDowell, said he had allocated €6.5 million in funding to finance 15,000 additional hours of overtime a week.
Yesterday's searches were led by Cab and the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation and they involved local gardaí attached to a number of stations across the city.
The Garda raids targeted members and associates of a gang led by two brothers. The gang is based in west Dublin in Finglas and Cabra.
The two arrested men were being held in separate Garda stations in Dublin last night. They were being held under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act on suspicion of withholding information.
Detectives believe that before the Finglas and Cabra-based gang became involved in the highly lucrative armed robbery of cash-in -transit vans in the last two years they were involved in stealing high value vehicles for resale.
They believe many vehicles may have been given new identities and sold on in the Republic and in other jurisdictions.
They suspect the two men being held last night may have also been providing the gang with information which would have facilitated these activities, as well as the recent robberies.