Gardaí believe the three men arrested in connection with the discovery of firearms and ammunition in Co Meath earlier this week have been active in one of the gangs involved in the feuding that has claimed three lives in Dublin and Meath in recent weeks.
The firearms, including AK47s, are believed to be owned by one faction in the Hutch-Kinahan feud.
Gardaí said taking the weapons off the streets has prevented bloodshed, though further attacks were still expected.
The men arrested on Thursday evening were still being held last night at Kells and Ashbourne Garda stations, both in Meath.
They were detained under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act and can be questioned for up to 72 hours without charge.
“Unfortunately, the people you are dealing with on both sides of this have a lot of resources, and they would overcome having people arrested and losing firearms,” said one garda.
Hutch link
The men arrested when two cars were stopped in
Ratoath
, Co Meath, are linked to
Gary Hutch
, the drug dealer and armed robber from Dublin’s north inner city who was shot dead in
Spain
last September.
Hutch (34) was a one-time member of the drugs gang, which has members in Ireland and Spain and is lead from southern Spain by convicted drug dealer Christy Kinahan.
It emerged that Hutch was murdered because his former associates believed he was a police informer.
His associates in Dublin last month attacked members of the Kinahan gang when they were attending a boxing tournament weigh-in at Dublin's Regency Hotel using AK47s and handguns.
Kinahan gang member David Byrne (33), Crumlin, Dublin, was killed and two other men were wounded but survived.
Three days later, Gary Hutch's uncle, taxi driver and father of five Eddie Hutch (58), was shot dead in revenge for Byrne's murder in his home on Poplar Row, Dublin 1.
Duggan killing
Last Wednesday night
Noel Duggan
(58) was shot dead in his car after pulling into the driveway of his home on the Old Mill estate in Ratoath, Co Meath. Gardaí formed the view that he was murdered by the Kinahan gang.
Duggan, a well-known cigarette smuggler who made a multimillion-euro settlement with the Criminal Assets Bureau, was close to fellow veteran criminal Gerry Hutch, the uncle of Gary Hutch and brother of Eddie Hutch.
The firearms and ammunition seized near Ratoath on Thursday are not believed to be linked to Duggan’s murder in the same village 24 hours earlier.
Gardaí believe they were being transported by associates of Gary Hutch, who feared they would be discovered in the investigation and searches that following Duggan’s death.
Two AK47s and several hundred rounds of ammunition were discovered when two vehicles were stopped.
A follow-up operation led to the discovery of two semi-automatic guns, silencers and further ammunition.
