Gardaí are expected to begin a murder investigation after the discovery of a man’s body with gunshot wounds in a field in Co Meath this evening.
The name of the deceased has not yet been released but he is believed to be a Dubliner who has been missing since Monday.
While the investigation into his death is at an early stage, the dead man is believed to have gone with an associate to meet other men in a remote part of Co Meath near Collon when he was shot dead in the field where the remains were found at around 5.30pm today.
The man the victim was with on Monday fled the scene. However, he did not go to gardaí. The fact he was with the deceased at time of his death only emerged when the dead man’s family realised he was missing and began contacting his friends looking for information as to his whereabouts.
The deceased’s family were initially led to believed he had gone to Drogheda with his associate to meet a group of other men and had gone missing there. Because of that they reported him missing to gardaí in Drogheda.
However, it is now believed the deceased and his associate went to Collon and that the dead man got out of the car they were in and walked into a field at Ballymacken just north of Slane to meet other men.
His associate heard shots being fired and though he did not witness the gun fire he immediately fled in the car.
The motive for the shooting is not clear.
However, gardaí are trying to establish if the killers are members of a north Dublin robbery and drugs gang who lured their victim to the field near Collon on the pretence of discussing criminal activities.
The suspects are closely linked to a man regarded as one of the biggest drug dealers in the State. He is suspected of involvement in robberies and drug related murders, including the killing in north Dublin two years ago of Real IRA figure Alan Ryan.
However, Garda sources stressed the investigation had only just begun and that several lines of inquiry were being explored.
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