Gardaí arrest pair and seize gun linked to gangland operation

Gardaí believe they have foiled a gangland murder attempt linked to the Kinahan-Hutch feud in Dublin.

A man and a woman were arrested in a car on Wednesday night in the city. A firearm was found in the vehicle as well as a Halloween mask and a canister of petrol.

The man in Garda custody is the chief suspect in the case. He is known to gardaí in several counties and is aligned to Hutch side of the feud which has claimed 12 lives to date.

The woman arrested is known to the male suspect. Her role, if any, in what gardaí believe was an imminent gun murder bid was still being determined by detectives on Wednesday night.

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Gardaí had the vehicle and the couple under surveillance, and when the car was stopped outside a convenience store in Ashtown near Finglas the Garda team moved in.

A Garda statement said the operation was specifically targeted at organised crime.

“Gardaí in Finglas have seized a firearm and arrested two people during an operation targeting organised crime in west Dublin,” it said.

“As part of ongoing investigations targeting organised criminal activity an operation was carried out in Rathbourne Village, Ashtown, late this afternoon.

“During the operation gardaí searched a car and recovered a handgun along with a number of rounds of ammunition.

“A man and woman both in their 30s were arrested at the scene. They are currently detained under Section 30 of the Offences against the State Act, 1939 at Finglas Garda Station.”

While there has been a lull in Kinahan-Hutch feud in recent months, Garda sources said the main protagonists were still plotting against their rivals with a view to attacking them.

Assistant Commissioner John O’Driscoll recently said the various specialist units and task force established to tackle the feud had combined prevented approximately 40 serious feud-related incidents in the past 18 months.

These included operations where people about to become direct involved in, or to aid, a murder attempt were intercepted.

The killings began when Gary Hutch (34) was shot dead on September 24th, 2015, at an apartment block near Marbella in southern Spain.

He was murdered by the Kinahan drugs gang, of which he was once a member, after it accused him of supplying information to the police.

He had also tried to shoot a senior gang member.

There were nine murders between February and August last year, and two killings in the 14 months since.