A man suspected of being a member of a gang behind a spate of burglaries and robberies across Limerick was arrested yesterday.
The man (23) was arrested in a field after gardaí chased a car that had broken through Garda checkpoints. He was detained at Bruff Garda station for questioning over burglaries in the Martinstown, Kilmallock, Charleville and Bruff Garda districts.
The gang was targeted by gardaí as part of Operation Bliain, a regional arm of the national Operation Fiachla, set up to curb the rise in burglaries across the country.
Seven Garda checkpoints had been set up on main routes between Limerick and Cork.
Chief Supt David Sheahan of Henry Street station in Limerick said the gang had been carrying out burglaries in the region “for quite some time now. They tried to make their escape through a number of checkpoints . . . One man has been arrested and we are looking for three others.” A high-powered Volvo car had been seized, he added.
This particular operation had taken in north Cork and southeast and west Limerick, and the Garda helicopter was deployed. Dog units were also drafted in last night as gardaí hunted the three other men.
Limerick’s top garda added that Operation Bliain would continue targeting burglaries “for the next three months”.