GANGLAND GODFATHER

Dublin gang behind the shipment which was intercepted by the Naval Service off the west coast last November is said to be desperate to raise the huge bill amid suspicions that the Colombians and major drugs gangs in Britain are threatening retribution.The 1.9 tonnes of cocaine had a street value estimated at €675m and was the biggest ever haul of the drug here.Gardai believe the gang intended to ship on a substantial amount of it to gangs in Britain who may have also put up substantial sums of money, putting further pressure on the Irish gang.As a result of the seizure, the gangs had to turn to the high-risk "tiger" kidnap robberies, the first on December 23 last, when the family of a director of a security firm was held and €1.2m taken, followed by the Bank of Ireland job. It also prompted a attempted kidnap and robbery in Galway last month.Gardai now believe that the gang is so desperate they may carry out further robberies in an effort to raise the missing cash.Since the s...

A rock was used to smash the front door window of the family home in Drimnagh, before the grenade was thrown into the property.The attack occurred about 20 minutes after the family had gone to bed. They had been watching television until 2am. The grenade was identified as being a lethal Yugoslav fragmentation device, which exploded with such ferocity that shards of metal riddled radiators and walls throughout the house, even reaching as far as the attic.The indentations in the walls were described as "bullet-like".Garda sources said the attack was the latest violent incident in a murderous feud between south Dublin gangs. It followed an attack on another house in Drimnagh last week in which a grandmother was shot and a baby narrowly escaped injury. There was also an attack on the home of two elderly grandparents.Garda sources said it was a miracle the four adults and two children asleep in the property were not seriously injured or killed in yesterday morning's attack. Th...

100 criminals in Dublin have been told by gardai that their lives are under serious threat.Garda Headquarters has advised officers to tell the criminals they are likely to be shot. It’s an extraordinary state of affairs linked to vicious feuding between gangs in the city. Indeed the 100 criminals reffered to here are only in one part of the city - the south inner city - and one feud in particular. The 100 does not take account of criminals warned about threats to their lives in other parts of the capital. The threats mostly arise from the ongoing feud between INLA boss Declan Duffy and drugs trafficker Fat ‘Freddie’ Thompson. Detectives believe a consortium of criminals have raised €40,000 to have Thompson eliminated. Officers also suspect that a gun and motorbike are in storage for the hit. In an incident yesterday afternoon, gardai were called to a popular bar in south central Dublin and told two masked men had been searching for Thompson. "They were seen acting suspiciously in ...

Ger Dundon left Limerick in the company of another young man and woman and went to Spain last week. He has been a regular visitor to the resort of Estepona on the Costa del Sol where he was known to keep company with Dublin gang figure, Paddy Doyle, who was shot dead in the resort in January. Ger Dundon received a suspended sentence for possessing drugs for supply three years ago and has no known legitimate means of income. Doyle was one of the two feuding Dublin gangs originally based in Drimnagh and was suspected of carrying out three murders in November 2005.Last month, when Ger Dundon appeared at Limerick District Court on traffic offences, he pulled up outside the courthouse in the armoured 4X4 and summoned associates, all wearing body armour, via an external PA system built into the front grille of the car. They gathered around the car door and shielded him as he made his way to the entrance.Gardai also believe the recent upsurge of violent attacks in the city was directed from p...