Shooting is first gangland attack by foreign drugs syndicate

Gardaí investigating the second of two shootings in Dublin on Saturday believe it was the first time that a foreign drugs gang has been involved in a gangland style attack here.

The shooting, which was the fourth in Dublin in a week, has heightened fears that eastern European crime syndicates are becoming more established in the Republic's illicit drugs trade.

This follows the discovery at Rosslare Port in December of ecstasy valued at €1 million. It was being smuggled in by a Lithuanian gang and was the biggest ecstasy find in the Republic last year. It was also the first time that drugs were intercepted while being delivered to an eastern European gang based here.

Last Friday in Waterford Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy told a conference on policing that foreign nationals were becoming increasingly involved in crime, including drug dealing.

The two men targeted in Saturday's attack are from Lithuania. They were attacked by a group of men who called to a house at Ashington Heath off the Navan Road just before 10pm following an earlier row at the house between two groups of Lithuanians.

At least one of the men was armed with a 9mm handgun. He shot one of the Lithuanians in the hand and the other in the leg. The two men were taken to the Mater hospital, where they were in a stable condition last night.

Gardaí investigating the shooting carried out a follow-up search of a house in the Cabra area. A quantity of cannabis was seized and three Polish men were arrested and later released without charge.

A file on one of the men is being prepared for the DPP. Gardaí believe the Lithuanians who carried out the shooting on their countrymen are involved in the drugs trade.

Meanwhile, a man shot three times in Finglas on Saturday morning was in a stable condition in hospital last night. The 23-year-old was shot at Berryfield Drive at 8.40am.

Despite being shot in the hand, leg and stomach, he managed to make his way to a nearby house, where the occupants called the emergency services. Gardaí believe a lone gunman armed with a shotgun carried out the attack and fled the scene on foot.

Detectives believe he knew the victim and that the shooting was drug related. A shotgun has been recovered.

Saturday's shootings followed the discovery of the body of Shay Bradley in a laneway off Blackhorse Avenue, Dublin, at noon on Friday. Gardaí believe they know who killed Bradley and that he voluntarily went in a car with his killer and was shot in the lane where he was found.

The 27-year-old was shot three times, in the upper body and groin. He was involved in the drugs trade. The Derry native was facing a number of charges, including possession of a firearm, relating to the shooting of a man in a Dublin pub last September.

Detectives believe Bradley, who was associated with a number of west Dublin drugs gangs, was killed because his accomplices feared he was supplying information to gardaí.

Meanwhile, gardaí investigating the murder of Donna Cleary (22) in Coolock last Sunday have released without charge a sixth man they were questioning. The 21-year-old was released just before 5pm yesterday as his 72-hour period of detention expired. He was arrested when he presented himself for questioning to Coolock Garda station on Thursday.

Gardaí have also appealed for any taxi drivers who drove fares in the early hours of last Sunday to the house on Adare Green, where the shooting took place, to contact them in Coolock station on (01) 6664200.