Inner-city gang suspected of Pounds 2m computer parts robbery

AN articulated lorry carrying more than Pounds 2 million worth of computer components was taken and its driver handcuffed to a tree in Dublin yesterday morning. It is believed to be the biggest robbery of its kind in the State.

The 45-foot vehicle, which had been loaded with 34 pallets of disc drives, was found empty in Howth at 8 p.m. yesterday. It was being driven from Dublin Airport to Dundalk at to a.m. yesterday, when it was flagged down near Kealy's pub in Cloghran, on the old airport road. Two men in a blue Mitsubishi/Pajero jeep flashed its lights and indicated something was wrong with the rear of the truck. The driver stopped and went to investigate. As he was checking the load he was struck on the head and grabbed by the two men, who pulled his jacket up over his head and bundled him into their vehicle. They took him to the Phoenix Park where he was handcuffed to a tree. About a half hour later, at 11 a.m., he succeeded in alerting a passing motorist. The lorry driver, a single man in his 30s, from Ashbourne, Co Meath, suffered some bruising but was not badly injured. His abductors had Dublin accents, one was in his mid-30s.

Gardai are keeping an open mind as to who might be responsible. However, informed sources say it is likely to be the work of either the criminal gang led by the "Monk" and based in Dublin's north inner city, or "the Warehouse" gang in the west of the city.

The consignment which came from Japan and included memory chips in the disc drives, was destined for Quantum Peripheral Products Ltd in Dundalk, a Panasonic company. It manufactures hard disc drives and employs 250 people.

Computer components have become a frequent target for thieves in Ireland in recent years as the price of memory chips remained high. In two raids last year an estimated Pounds 1 million worth of computer chips was taken. Last August, six masked and armed men raided the Gateway 2000 factory on Dublin's Clonshaugh Industrial Estate, getting away with 1O boxes of computer chips valued at Pounds 500,000. Some days earlier, Pounds 500,000 worth of Intel chips Were stolen from an Irish Express Cargo warehouse on the Airways Industrial Estate in Dublin by a gang using similar methods. It is believed both raids were conducted by members of the Monk's gang, as the methods used were the same as those used in the Brinks Allied theft at the Clonshaugh Industrial Estate in January, 1995, which netted the gang Pounds 2.8 million.

Early last November, five armed men stole about Pounds 250,000 worth of memory chips from the AST plant at Plassey Technology Park in Limerick.

An IDA spokesman said that, while robberies of computer components here were becoming more frequent, they were "nowhere" in the context of the size of the industry here or when compared with the scale of such robberies in the US, the UK, and continental Europe. He said there had been a "very intensive upgrading of security" at computer plants recently following earlier robberies. This had been assisted by the IDA. Thieves, he pointed out, were attracted by the "high value, low volume" nature of the components, but he added that in recent weeds there had been a worldwide slowdown in demand for the chips, which would decrease their value.