MEMBERS OF Limerick’s Keane-Collopy gang have been targeted by the Criminal Assets Bureau (Cab) as part of a major operation into the assets of feuding gangland criminals in the city.
A series of raids was carried out yesterday morning in Limerick city and Ennis, Co Clare, in which two people were arrested, a handgun was discovered and paperwork seized.
Garda sources said while the seizure of the gun and the two arrests were a welcome development, the investigating team was most interested in the paperwork because it may lead the Cab to assets owned by the targeted criminals.
A total of four houses and two offices of professionals were searched in a series of raids that began at 8am and involved about 40 members of the force.
The raids were carried out under Operation Platinum, established in 2008 by the Cab to target Limerick’s gangs. A number of Garda assets profilers have been trained by the Cab and have been supplying information to the Dublin-based bureau on the assets of Limerick criminals.
In May 2008, over 250 gardaí were involved in Operation Platinum searches of 150 premises, including 120 homes, 15 professional offices, seven business premises and a number of other properties.
During the course of these searches, a substantial quantity of documentation along with a range of computer equipment had been seized. A number of assets were later seized.
Last March the bureau seized two bulletproof vehicles, a BMW X5 4X4 and a BMW 3 Series car, that were registered to brothers Ger and Wayne Dundon, both members of a feuding gang. The vehicles are worth about €150,000.
Also under Operation Platinum the bureau seized a Mitsubishi Shogun 4X4 worth €50,000 in January.
Last February the Cab seized a Toyota Landcruiser and a Toyota Avensis worth an estimated €60,000 and €90,000 respectively from members of the Keane-Collopy gang.
The handgun recovered yesterday was found in one of the Limerick houses searched. A 38-year-old man and a woman in her late 20s were arrested.
The arrested man is known to gardaí. He has more than 50 convictions and has served a number of prison terms.