Attempts at mediation in the Limerick feud have been rebuffed by the Keane family, adding to fears of further bloodshed.
It has emerged that the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) is now investigating the assets of one of the men questioned by gardaí but released last week and also the assets of the Ryan brothers.
Both investigations are understood to be in their early stages. CAB was about to serve a demand of €200,000 on last Wednesday's murder victim, Mr Kieran Keane.
More arrests are expected in Limerick in coming days in connection with the murder of Mr Keane.
The dead man's funeral was not expected to go ahead until Wednesday because the family want to wait until his nephew, Mr Owen Treacy, is well enough to attend. Mr Treacy was stabbed repeatedly during the same attack that claimed his uncle's life.
Mr Treacy has been interviewed by gardaí a number of times, and it is understood that he may have known his attackers. His evidence, if he is prepared to co-operate fully with gardaí, could be central to bringing to justice those involved in both Kieran Keane's murder and the Ryan brothers' abduction.
But the feuding in Limerick in recent years has been characterised by an unwillingness of key players to co-operate with gardaí.
Over the weekend, gardaí released another man and woman who were being questioned about the murder. The four who were being detained were suspected of having played a minor role in the murder, and it is thought that two other factions working together were the primary forces behind last Wednesday's attack.
The investigation is now focusing on these two principal factions who loosely make up a third gang now believed to have been involved in Mr Keane's murder and also the alleged abduction of Kieran and Eddie Ryan.
One avenue still be explored is that this gang may have been hired by Mr Keane to abduct the Ryans but, after a falling out with Mr Keane, may have killed him and released the Ryans.
However, it has not been ruled out that this gang was operating independently of the Keanes and simply wanted to murder Mr Keane and link it to the Ryan abduction. Both factions are known to gardaí.
One family believed to have been involved lives very close to members of the Keane family, and the other faction has a reputation for extreme violence. The latter are the main suspects in a spate of brutal attacks on a number of elderly people in the west of Ireland in recent years where robbery was the motive.
It is believed these groups, along with a former businessman from Limerick, are intent on taking over the Keane drug-dealing patch.
Some of those involved have also been connected to the murder of a night-club bouncer, Mr Brian Fitzgerald, last year. He was shot because he would not allow drugs to be sold in the club where he worked.
The murder of Fitzgerald and Keane and the violent history of those suspected to have been involved has led to fears among gardaí that serious violence will occur again soon.
It is believed that the former businessman is a drugs wholesaler who has been supplying drugs to most of the city's criminals for a number of years. He was the man arrested but released who is being investigated by CAB. He has owned several businesses in the city in recent years.
Yesterday saw continued armed Garda presence in Limerick, and the Garda helicopter could be seen circling parts of the city. The Emergency Response Unit was still deployed in some suburbs, and its presence, while under constant review, was expected to continue in the short term.
