FIREARMS, COCAINE and ammunition have been seized by gardaí in Limerick as part of the investigation into organised crime gangs in the wake of the murder of Shane Geoghegan earlier this month.
The seizure is the second weapons find in the city in a week by gardaí targeting both the gang suspected of killing Mr Geoghegan and a number of other Limerick drugs syndicates.
The latest haul includes two rifles, one of them with a silencer and telescopic sight, and one pump-action shotgun. An estimated 150 rounds of ammunition, including shotgun cartridges and bullets, were also found.
The haul was discovered along with two kilos of cocaine, valued at about €160,000, during a search of waste ground at the Galvone Industrial Estate beside the O'Malley Park estate in Southill.
Supt Ann Marie McMahon of Roxboro Garda station said members of the Limerick divisional search team, assisted by gardaí from Roxboro and the Garda National Drugs Unit, were involved in the searches.
"This is part of the ongoing investigation into the murder of Shane Geoghegan and indeed organised crime in general in Limerick city," Supt McMahon said.
"We have got considerable help from the public and this is really helping us in our investigations."
Yesterday's find of the three weapons followed the discovery of a handgun in Limerick on Wednesday. The weapon was found with 75 rounds of ammunition during searches on Clarina Avenue and Crecora Avenue.
Both are in the suburb of Ballinacurra Weston which has traditionally been the stronghold of the gang suspected of killing Mr Geoghegan.
He was gunned down on November 9th while returning to his home on the Kilteragh estate in Dooradoyle after spending the evening in a friend's house. His attacker mistook him for a Limerick drug dealer who was the intended target.
While a handgun was used in the killing, gardaí do not believe the firearm found on Wednesday is the murder weapon.
On Wednesday evening a second Garda search uncovered cocaine valued at €10,000 in a vacant house in Southill.
The gang suspected of being behind Mr Geoghegan's murder was also targeted on Monday in searches of Caledonian Park near Limerick's railway line.
Some 150 rounds of ammunition were discovered along with cannabis valued at about €50,000.
The park is the same patch of waste ground where the body of James Cronin (20) was found in a shallow grave last April. The men suspected of shooting him dead are the same people suspected of killing Mr Geoghegan. Garda sources said the suspects, as well as members of rival gangs, would be subjected to repeated raids by the 50-strong team of gardaí investigating Mr Geoghegan's killing. They said that while any finds of guns and drugs were welcome, the main focus of the team was to catch Mr Geoghegan's killers.