Gardaí have made a number of further arrests in relation to a tiger kidnapping last week in which a bank official's wife was abducted and a quantity of cash stolen from an AIB branch in Clondalkin.
Gardaí supported by the Organised Crime Unit and the Emergency Response Unit today searched of a number of houses in Lucan, Co Dublin, and Navan, Co Meath.
Two men - aged 30 and 32 - and a woman (29) were arrested and are being held at Crumlin, Rathmines and Terenure Garda stations under Section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act 2007.
Two men arrested on September 4th are still being held. One of them appeared in court today charged with money laundering.
Three other men detained at the same time were released on September 5th, and a file is being prepared for the DPP.
An incident room has been set up at Terenure Garda station, and anyone with information is asked to contact gardaí on 01-6666400, the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666111 or any Garda station.
At about 11pm on September 1st, three masked men, at least one of whom was armed with a sawn-off shotgun, broke into the home of an AIB bank manager at Domville Drive, Templeogue, south Dublin.
The men took the bank official's wife from her home while her husband was ordered to carry out the theft at the Clondalkin village branch. The cash was dropped off at an arranged site before the man‘s wife was freed hours later near a quarry in rural Wicklow.
The raiders held the bank manager and his wife hostage in their home until around 7.30am on September 2nd, when the woman was taken by the gang from the house in a black 10 D registered VW Golf.
Her husband was instructed by the gang to go to work at the AIB Clondalkin branch in west Dublin as normal. He was then given further instructions by phone later in the morning and told to bring a bag of money to a drop-off point at Cherrywood, close to the bank branch.
He drove his 08 black Nissan Qashqai to the drop-off point, leaving it unlocked with the money inside.
A gang member then arrived at 10.30am and took the car with the bag containing just under €300,000. At 12.45pm the bank manager’s wife was released unharmed at Ballybrew Quarry in Enniskerry, Co Wicklow.
AIB officials had contacted gardaí while the robbery was still under way. Although a rapid response operation was put in place, the gang evaded gardaí.
Gardaí have appealed for information from anyone in Clondalkin who may have seen two vehicles - a black 10-D registration Volkswagen Golf and a black Nissan Qashqai with a 08-D registration - that may have been used by the gang.
