Gardaí investigating the murder of a Dubliner on Sunday morning recovered drugs and firearms in a series of dawn searches in the west of the city yesterday.
Among the items seized was a MAC-10 automatic pistol, which can fire up to 40 bullets in less than two seconds.
Detectives are now satisfied that the shooting dead of Kevin Ledwidge (28), Ratoath Drive, Finglas, at his family home on Sunday morning, is linked to a localised feud in the area. Gardaí believe they know the identity of the killers.
Informed sources said the dead man had clashed with local criminals a number of times in recent weeks as part of a row over damaged property. Detectives believe Sunday's murder represents a sharp escalation in that dispute.
Mr Ledwidge stayed at the family home on Ratoath Drive on Saturday night. However, when he went to answer the door to a caller just after 9.30am on Sunday, he was shot once in the chest by an assailant armed with a sawn-off shotgun.
Mr Ledwidge fell back into the hallway of the house, where he died immediately. He had been released from prison on Friday, less than 48 hours before he was gunned down.
He had been serving a short sentence for assault.
However, he secured bail and was released from prison pending an appeal of his conviction. The row now being linked to his murder was well-established before Mr Ledwidge was sent to prison.
He was not regarded as a gangland criminal but had a number of associates who are drug dealers.
One of these associates has been shot at twice in recent weeks in the immediate vicinity of Sunday's murder. Gardaí at first thought this man may have been the intended victim of the fatal shooting and that Mr Ledwidge was shot instead in a case of mistaken identity. But they now believe Mr Ledwidge was the intended victim.
The men with whom he was embroiled in a feud are known criminals from the Finglas area. They are involved in drug dealing and armed crime.
Gardaí raided six houses in the Finglas area yesterday looking for the two killers and the firearm used.
While the two men remained at large last night, a quantity of drugs and the MAC-10, ammunition and a shotgun were seized in the course of the early morning searches.
The shotgun will undergo forensic testing to determine if it is the weapon used in the killing.
A small amount of drugs believed to be cocaine or heroin was also seized.
Garda sources are hopeful forensic evidence from the getaway car used in the killing, as well as identification evidence from members of the public, could prove vital in solving the murder.
The gunman ran from the murder scene to a waiting grey Opel Vectra.
He was driven away at speed by an accomplice. However, the two men crashed the car a short time later, abandoning it on Ratoath Avenue and fleeing the area on foot.
It is understood that the men may have initially hidden in the Ballymun area.
Gardaí say a number of people saw the killers, who were apparently not wearing balaclavas or other disguises, and have given them detailed descriptions.
The gunman is described as being in his 20s, of medium build with short black greying hair. He wore a black hooded top under a blue tracksuit top.
The driver was also described as being in his 20s, with light-brown spiked hair and chubby cheeks.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Finglas Garda station on (01) 666 7500.