Gardaí investigating the murder of Dublin criminal Patrick Harte in May believe he was much more involved in the drugs trade than previously believed.
They have now identified properties worth more than €3 million he owned in Ireland and Spain.
Harte (42) was linked to a number of criminal gangs in west Dublin for which he had laundered drugs money through a shop he owned in the city. They also believe the shop was being used to sell a range of stolen goods.
Officers investigating his murder now believe Harte had set himself up in his own drugs business and may have fallen foul of a significant Finglas criminal with whom he had previously worked.
The investigating team is working on the basis that in the months before his death, Harte had flooded Finglas with drugs and that one of the biggest drug-dealers in the State, who is from that area, decided he should be killed. Gardaí believe this man arranged for Harte's murder to protect his own drugs business.
Harte was shot on May 29th outside a house at Edenmore Avenue, Raheny, which he was renting. He was killed as he sat in his rental car, which he had been using as a taxi, just after he left two of his children to school.
Gardaí believe he had built up considerable wealth and that renting the house and car may have been a front to convince the authorities that he had distanced himself from the major criminals for whom he once worked.
They believe he owned up to seven properties, some of which are in Drimnagh and Finglas. He was also building a substantial house just outside St Margaret's village near Dublin airport.
Gardaí have also uncovered evidence that he owned two apartments in Alicante in southern Spain, worth up to €400,000 and understood to be mortgage free.
It is believed he bought these properties for cash in an effort to hide his wealth from the Criminal Assets Bureau. Sources close to the murder investigation said the bureau would now become involved in the case in an effort to seize the properties.
Harte, a father of four, was originally from Dublin's north inner city. He had three children from his marriage and became involved in another relationship after his wife died some years ago.
On the morning he was murdered, a gunman wearing a helmet approached his silver 05 Opel Vectra, firing a number of shots into the car just after Harte had parked it after finishing the school run. The gunman is believed to have been taken from the scene by an accomplice driving a motorcycle.
The criminal is now a prime target for the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation's organised crime unit.
Gardaí have foiled a number of his drugs deals and an attempted armed robbery linked to the chief suspect in recent months.
The Criminal Assets Bureau is also conducting a major investigation into his assets.
