Three suspects have been arrested for questioning about the murder of a teenager in Co Louth last year.
The latest arrests in the investigation were made on Monday morning and come as one man is already before the courts in relation to the killing.
The murder victim, who was a juvenile, cannot be named for legal reasons. In a statement Garda Headquarters, Phoenix Park, Dublin, said his murder occurred in Drogheda in January of last year.
As well as detaining the three suspects for questioning, gardaí also carried out fresh searches as the murder investigation has intensified following the discovery of significant evidence earlier this year.
The suspects detained in this latest phase of the inquiry are all men and are aged in their 20s, 40s and 50s.
They were being held in Dublin Garda stations under section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act, which allows them to be questioned for up to seven days without charge.
Monday’s arrests bring to 11 the number of suspects detained since the murder investigation began, with recent months marked by a number of significant developments in the case.
In March a large area at Rathmullen Park in Drogheda was sealed off for several days of searching, and that operation saw partial human remains discovered at the site. Garda had intelligence some of the dead boy’s body had been concealed there, and DNA testing confirmed that the torso discovered matched the victim.
Investigating officers wanted to find the body part and return it to the boy’s family for burial with the rest of his remains.
The discovery of the body part was also important for the investigation as a set of complete postmortem results would now be available to investigators and for presentation as evidence in any future court actions.
