Six people were arrested and questioned yesterday morning after gardaí raided halting sites at Dunsink Lane in Finglas, Dublin.
The lane was the focus of recent protests and disturbances when the local councils blocked one end of it in order to stop illegal dumping. The road block has since been moved further along the lane following negotiations between council officials and Traveller representatives, who said the original location was causing them serious inconvenience.
During yesterday's operation, which lasted nearly four hours, gardaí seized DVD counterfeiting equipment, fireworks and weapons, including bows, air pistols and spear guns, a bullet-proof vest and stolen goods including power tools.
Spent cartridges from a high-powered rifle were also found.
Yesterday morning members of the 400-strong Travelling community who live on the lane claimed the raid was motivated by intimidation and discrimination, a charge gardaí rejected.
Four of those arrested were detained on suspicion of violent disorder, arising out of recent events at the lane, in which gardaí were attacked with petrol bombs and other weapons. Another man was arrested on a previous warrant, while the sixth was detained in relation to a stolen car.
They were being questioned at Blanchardstown Garda station yesterday.
Gardaí, who had search warrants, moved in shortly after 7 a.m. yesterday, and focused their searches on six official and unofficial halting sites along the lane.
During the operation gardaí also mounted two checkpoints at the Finglas end of Dunsink Lane, one at the previous site of the controversial barrier. The operation was backed up by members of the Garda public order unit, who wore full riot gear.
Cars going into and leaving the lane were searched by officers at the two checkpoints.
Local Travellers claimed that the operation was intended to frighten and intimidate them.
"They arrived into the sites in ski masks," said one man.
"The kids were screaming and roaring, and they called us the height of names."
A member of the Joyce family, whose mobile home was raided, claimed that gardaí "made a mess of everything".
"When I asked them who would clean it up they said 'that's not our problem'."
He also claimed that his car was stopped when he was bringing his children out to school. "They made them get out and stand in the rain when they searched it."
Mr Martin Collins, of Pavee Point, who lived on the lane for 15 years, said that he had been told by residents that some children had their school bags searched at the checkpoint.
"It's pure intimidation and harassment," he said. "The community's completely under siege here . . . This will only serve to agitate the community."
If some residents of the lane were engaged in illegal activity, they should be identified and arrested, rather than making an entire community suffer, he said.
Yesterday senior gardaí defended the raid, and described it as a successful operation.
A senior officer told The Irish Times that it was "directly related" to serious attacks on gardaí over recent weeks. He also rejected claims that children's school bags were searched. "I'm not aware of that. There were satchels that were seized which were full of fireworks."