Convicted Dublin criminal John Traynor has been arrested in Holland.
Traynor (62) fled Ireland following following the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin in June 1996. She was shot dead in her car by the pillion passenger on a motorbike at traffic lights on the Naas Road in Dublin.
Traynor was reportedly Ms Guerin's main underworld contact and has been on the run from British authorities for 18 years after failing to return to custody in 1992 where he was serving seven years for fraud.
It is understood he was arrested in Amstelveen, near Amsterdam, on August 23rd in a joint operation between the Dutch and British Serious and Organised Crime Agency (Soca).
Traynor vanished in November 1992 when he failed to return to HMP Prison Highpoint, Suffolk, after a short period of home leave. Since then, it is understood he has spent time in Spain and Portugal.
“He is now awaiting extradition to the UK to serve the remainder of his sentence,” a Soca spokesman said. “This arrest is as a result of ongoing collaboration with the Dutch authorities that Soca has to apprehend criminals operating in the Netherlands that impact on the UK.”
It is expected he will appear in court in the coming days.
There are no outstanding warrants for Traynor in the Republic.
Traynor was an associate of Martin Cahill, also known as 'The General', and was close to John Gilligan.
Gilligan was cleared of the murder of Guerin in 2001. He was jailed by the Special Criminal Court for 28 years for importing cannabis resin, the longest sentence handed down in the State for drugs offences.
Traynor was involved in a wide variety of criminal endeavours, from robbery to drugs, embezzlement and prostitution. He was the second in command and main adviser of the drug-smuggling gang which was broken up by the Garda investigation into the Guerin murder.
He also had contacts with the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA).