Gardaí have recovered €150,000 worth of diamonds stolen from a jewellery salesman in Dublin city centre this afternoon.
The jewels were found, along with bags of mace and a baseball bat, in the back of a van on Hartstown Road, Dublin 15 shortly before 7 p.m. They had been stolen on Gardiner Street at 5 p.m.
A man in his 40s has was arrested and is being questioned in Blanchardstown Garda Station under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act. He can be held for up to 72 hours.
The van was searched this evening as part of Operation Crossover, set up by the Garda to tackle organised crime in west Dublin.
The operation particularly targets about 12 leading gangland figures, and their associates, in the area and involves local gardaí and armed members of the Emergency Response Unit patrolling suburban streets and erecting roaming checkpoints.