SIX MEN aged in their 30s have been arrested after a consignment of stolen alcohol was recovered by gardaí as part of an investigation into dissident republican activities.
A gang stole two articulated trucks containing beer, wines and spirits late on Sunday evening from a warehouse near Rathcoole, Co Dublin.
The lorries headed north; one of them was stopped by the Garda Emergency Response Unit on the M1 near Drogheda, Co Louth, at 11pm, where three of the men were arrested.
Gardaí suspect the gang was making its way across the Border to sell the alcohol in Northern Ireland.
It is understood the occupants of the second lorry became aware of the Garda intervention and dumped the trailer on the side of the motorway before making a getaway in the cab of the truck. The trailer, along with its contents, was recovered a short time later.
Gardaí discovered the cab of the second articulated truck at 4am in Delvin, Co Westmeath, and made three arrests.
All six are suspected of involvement in a Real IRA criminal gang, and some are known to the gardaí. A Garda spokesman said three of the men are from the Republic and three are from the Derry area.
The men are being held at Balbriggan, Drogheda, Kells and Navan Garda stations under sections 4 and 30 of the Offences Against the State Act.
The operation was led by officers from the Special Detective Unit and the Louth-Meath division.
