A MAN WAS in Garda custody last night after he pointed a handgun at members of the force when they tried to arrest him. Gardaí believe the suspect is a member of one of two gangs that have been embroiled in a gangland feud.
The row, which is based in the Crumlin and Drimnagh areas of Dublin’s south inner city, has cost 10 lives in the past eight years.
The latest incident began late on Wednesday night when uniformed gardaí conducting a patrol saw a man acting suspiciously at Dolphin House flats, Dolphin’s Barn.
When they moved in to question him the suspect pointed what gardaí believed to be a gun in their direction. The officers at the scene called for armed back-up and members of the Organised Crime Unit and Emergency Response Unit were in the area almost immediately.
The suspect ran towards the banks of the Grand Canal and was eventually arrested at Dolphin’s Barn bridge. He was searched but no gun was found on his person or at the scene.
However, when divers from the Garda Water Unit searched the stretch of canal they found a handgun and silencer. Both are undergoing forensic testing in an effort to establish a link to the suspect.
The 28-year-old Dubliner was taken to Kilmainham Garda station where he was still being questioned last night.
Gardaí say that although the man is a member of one of the feuding gangs it is unclear why he was carrying a gun. Sources said that while he may have been preparing to use it in an attack, he may also have been carrying it for protection purposes.
He was found to be wearing a bullet-proof vest when arrested.
The man is a close ally of one of the gang leaders who is in prison on serious drugs and firearms offences.
That gang is involved in a feud with another gang, the leader of which has fled to Spain after a number of recent shootings and pipe bomb attacks.
Although nobody has been killed as part of the feud this year, recent gun attacks have led to fears that the feud-related violence is escalating.
A third faction comprising members of the INLA in Dublin has also entered the fray recently, using pipe bombs to extort money from some drug dealers involved in the Crumlin-Drimnagh feud.
