Gardai were continuing their search yesterday for three men believed to have been involved in an armed raid on the Quantum Peripherals computer company in Dundalk over the week end.
A gang of four who were armed with a sawn-off shotgun and handgun forced their way onto the premises late on Friday night. Two others are believed to have acted as lookouts while the crime was under way.
The search was continuing for the handgun yesterday. The shotgun, which was fully loaded, was recovered on Saturday afternoon.
The raid was foiled by gardai, including members of the Emergency Response Unit, who prevented a truck the gang had loaded with close to £500,000worth of computer components, from leaving the site sometime between midnight and 1 a.m. on Saturday.
Three men were arrested at the scene, but were released last night without charge. The culprits had used forklifts to load boxes containing hard disc drives and other components onto the truck.
The boxes and truck were examined for fingerprints and other evidence by a Garda forensic team on Saturday afternoon.
One of the lines of inquiry is that dissident republicans may have played a role in the organisation of the robbery, which could have netted the "Real IRA" a large amount of cash.
A spokesman for Quantum praised the work of the Garda, including the ERU.
"The gardai did an excellent job and we are very pleased with the outcome. All the products taken were recovered," said Mr Kevin Devlin, managing director of Quantum Peripherals Products Ireland.
Mr Devlin said the company was delighted that the security guards were unharmed, although they had been through a traumatic experience.