GARDAÍ HAVE questioned a member of a well-known Dublin criminal family as part of their investigation into the killing of a drug dealer who was shot five times in the head.
Derek Duffy (36) was shot as he sat in his car in the Casement Park housing estate in Finglas, Dublin, at 4am on September 23rd, 2007. His killer walked up to the car and opened fire with a handgun.
The gunman then tried to set the vehicle on fire in an effort to destroy any forensic evidence. The killer ran from the scene and gardaí believe he was taken from the area by an accomplice in a waiting car.
Duffy, an unemployed small-time drug dealer from St Attracta’s Road, Cabra, had gone by arrangement to Finglas to meet a drug dealer but was shot. The killing was drug-related.
Duffy was a street dealer who worked alone. He sourced drugs from gang members but was not aligned to any gang.
The man questioned yesterday is very well known to gardaí, as are a number of members of his family. The north inner-city family are known for their involvement in gun attacks, armed robbery and drug dealing.
The man arrested yesterday, who is in his 20s, is the nephew of a major gangland figure. He is the chief suspect for the murder of Duffy.
He was arrested in Dublin city centre late on Thursday night and detained at Finglas Garda station until yesterday evening.
He was released without charge and a file on his alleged involvement in the Duffy murder is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The suspect has spent time in prison for armed robbery. He is also the chief suspect for a gangland shooting in which a man was wounded. He has only recently returned from the south of Spain, where gardaí believe he was involved in drug trafficking with associates from Dublin.
He is involved in drug dealing with criminals from Dublin’s north inner city and a crime gang based in Crumlin and Drimnagh that has been involved in a feud with another gang from the same areas.