19/02/2010

Separate Arrests Target Gangsters

Police officers on both sides of the border are targeting both kidnap and extortion attacks and the large number of ram-raid thefts of cash machines.

In separate operations, gardaí investigating a so-called 'tiger kidnapping' in Dublin last month have arrested seven people, while four men being questioned about recent ATM thefts in Northern Ireland have been released pending further enquiries.

The men freed by the PSNI are aged, 19, 20, 27 and 35, and were arrested initially in Co Tyrone on Wednesday.

Two were arrested in Fintona, one in Fivemiletown and the fourth in Dungannon.

Police said they were also questioned about other criminal activity as well as the ATM thefts.

In Dublin meanwhile, the police have been busy in relation to an early January incident when a security guard and two members of his family were taken hostage, leading to the theft of more than €100,000.

The Brinks Allied employee was targeted by a gang of four masked and armed men who entered his home off Bath Avenue in Irishtown, Dublin, at 6.30am.

They took his mother, who is in her 70s, and niece hostage and forced him to drive to the Bank of Ireland on O'Connell Street where his company was delivering cash yesterday morning. They also gave him a mobile phone.

The robbery appeared to be well planned as the gang knew a cash delivery was due, and they also knew where the kidnapped man and his family lived.

The employee obtained a quantity of cash from the bank and was directed to go to a hotel car park in Drumcondra in a white Renault van, where he left the vehicle.

He then took a Dart to Bray where he alerted gardaí to the disappearance of the money.

His mother and niece were held captive for about six hours before they were released in the Newvale Crescent estate in Shankill, south Dublin.

As a result of their investigations, gardaí arrested five men and two women after conducting 18 searches in counties Dublin, Meath and Wexford.

Officers from the Dublin South Central Division supported by members of the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Special Detective Unit and Organised Crime Unit carried out the searches.

The seven arrested, aged between 25 and 35, are being held at Donnybrook, Pearse Street, Harcourt Terrace, Kevin Street and Kilmainham, Crumlin, Irishtown Garda stations.

They are being detained under Section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act, 2007.

(BMcC/GK)

Related Northern Ireland News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

15 September 2021
Four Men Arrested In Connection With Lyra McKee Murder
Four men have been arrested in connection with the murder of journalist Lyra McKee. Ms McKee was fatally shot as she observed rioting in L'Derry in April 2019. She was 29 years old. Police investigating her death have arrested four men, aged 19, 20, 21 and 33, under the Terrorism Act.
17 December 2010
Many Arrests In Gardaí Drugs Raids
A total of 45 people have been arrested in the past 48 hours in Gardaí a crackdown on the sale and supply of heroin and 'crack' cocaine in the Dublin region. The operation, which involved Garda drug units from Kevin Street, Pearse Street and Store Street stations, resulted in 150 charges being brought, according to Gardaí this morning.
11 June 2010
Derry Men On Dublin CIT Charges
Two NI men have been charged with the possession of a firearm with intent to commit a robbery in Dublin. The Londonderry pair face the charges over the robbery of a cash delivery guard in Dublin this Wednesday.
15 May 2015
Rise In NI Passengers Using Dublin Airport
The number of Northern Ireland residents using Dublin Airport increased by 52% last year. A record 864,000 Northern Irish passengers flew in and out of the airport.
27 February 2024
Four Men Sentenced Over Co Antrim ATM Thefts
Four men have been sentenced in connection with a series of ATM thefts in the County Antrim area over four years ago. The investigation related to a number of ATM thefts between 27th October 2018 and 6th December 2019, including the theft of two cash machines at a supermarket on Castle Way in Antrim.