Mr John Gilligan, the man arrested in London yesterday under British drugs trafficking legislation, has repeatedly denied any involvement in the murder of journalist, Veronica Guerin. But he has claimed gardai investigating the murder consider him a suspect.
While gardai were "coming after me" the real killers were escaping, he told one interviewer.
Mr Gilligan has been abroad for most of the time since Veronica Guerin was shot dead in June. In interviews he said he has been travelling on business.
Born in Ballyfermot, Dublin, in 1952, Mr Gilligan is married with two adult children.
His wife, Geraldine, owns the Jessbrook Equestrian Centre at Mucklon, near Enfield, Co Kildare. The centre is worth about £4 million. Mr Gilligan gives his own address as a local authority house at Corduff Avenue, Blanchardstown, Co Dublin.
In the course of a long criminal career, Mr Gilligan has served a number of jail terms for robbery and receiving stolen goods. He came to Garda attention in the 1980s when he organised raids on warehouses and other commercial properties. He was sentenced to four years in 1990 for receiving stolen goods. According to Mr Gilligan, he has concentrated on professional gambling since his release from prison.
On June 26th, Veronica Guerin was shot by a gunman while stopped at traffic lights in her car. The gunman and his accomplice escaped from the scene on a motorcycle.
After the killing, gardai launched the State's largest and most wide ranging murder investigation which has moved into areas of criminal activity including drug trafficking and money "laundering".
In the course of inquiries, gardai have focussed on a number of businesses and on a betting "scam", in which they believe £5 million was laundered" through bookmakers.
Mr Gilligan has said he has handed over all his tax dockets from gambling to the authorities. He has said he understood "laundering" to be something done by criminals through small business and pubs rather than by gambling on horses.
In September, 1995, Mr Gilligan was charged with assaulting Ms Guerin, arising from an incident when she had visited his home seeking an interview. He was also charged with criminal damage relating to the incident.
However, the killing of Ms Guerin in June meant that when the case came up for mention at Kilcock District Court in July, the prosecuting gardai said they were instructed to ask for the charges to be struck out. Ms Guerin would have been the main prosecution witness.
Mr Gilligan has acknowledged in interviews that he threatened the journalist and her son, but said this was "only a tactic" which he resorted to because she was so persistent in seeking interviews with him.
Yesterday, Mr Gilligan was at Heathrow Airport with another man when he was detained by British Customs, and found to be carrying about £300,000 in cash. The Customs said they arrested two men attempting to export money to Holland, and would be making inquiries about the cash under drug trafficking legislation.
Mr Gilligan can be held for an initial 24 hours, which can be extended to 36 hours with the permission of a senior Customs official. At that stage, the case has to be brought before a magistrate.