GARDAÍ BELIEVE rocket launchers found during a series of raids against a major gangland figure may have been part of a plan to kill a number of rival criminals by firing a rocket into one of their meeting places.
The case is believed to represent the first time an Irish organised crime gang has been successful in sourcing rocket launchers.
The two eastern bloc over-the-shoulder rocket launchers were found along with an AK47, magazine, ammunition and cocaine valued at €700,000 in a rented storage facility in Co Kildare.
The discovery followed the arrest of four men linked to one of two feuding drugs gangs in Crumlin and Drimnagh, Dublin.
The four suspects were arrested as they were carrying out a cocaine handover. They were being watched at the time as part of a lengthy Organised Crime Unit intelligence-led operation. Gardaí believe the men were effectively working for a major Spanish-based gangland criminal from southwest Dublin who is closely associated with the leader of one of the two feuding gangs in Crumlin and Drimnagh.
On Wednesday evening detectives moved in on two cars whose occupants were suspected of being involved in a cocaine handover off the Naas Road, west Dublin. One of the vehicles was stopped on the Naas Road and its two occupants arrested with a kilo of cocaine, valued at €70,000. Another two men were stopped in a vehicle a short distance away in Rathcoole and arrested.
They were taken to Clondalkin Garda station for questioning. The Garda surveillance operation and recent searches identified a rented storage facility the men had been using in an industrial estate at Longtown House, Clane Road, Straffan, Co Kildare.
When gardaí searched the premises yesterday morning they found the two loaded rocket launchers, an AK47 assault rifle with magazine, ammunition and a further nine kilos of cocaine. The total value of drugs seized was €700,000.
The haul was hidden in barrels in the storage units. Gardaí alerted the Army’s bomb disposal experts immediately after the two rocket launchers were found.
The Army personnel arrived at the scene at 11.20am and after making safe the weapons declared the area clear at 2.50pm.
The weapons are undergoing testing by Garda ballistics experts. The scene of the find and the vehicles used are being examined by the Garda Technical Bureau. A number of other searches of premises linked to the suspects have been carried out.