Three men held after gardai foil armed raid in Dublin car park

Three men were being questioned by gardaí last night after an armed robbery was foiled in Dublin city centre yesterday afternoon.

Gardaí from Store Street station, backed by armed members of the Emergency Response Unit, lay in wait for the three-man gang at a car park on Marlborough Street in the north inner city after they received information that a robbery was imminent.

Yesterday's events began at around 2.30 p.m. at the Marlborough Street multistorey car park when the gang pulled into the facility, blocking the path of a cash-in-transit van which was collecting the morning's takings from the car park.

There were two raiders in the back of the van and one driving. However, just as the van pulled in and the raiders were about to strike, gardaí moved in and threw the stun grenade under the van.

This forced the two men in the back out of the vehicle and they were arrested immediately, as was the driver.

Two handguns were recovered from the back of the van. These were being analysed by Garda ballistics experts to determine if they were genuine or sophisticated replicas. No shots were fired by gardaí during the incident.

The three men arrested are all in their early 20s and are from the north inner city. They are known to gardaí. They were being held at Store Street Garda station under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act.

Sources said that yesterday's Garda operation was planned after officers received intelligence in advance indicating when and where the raid would take place.

However, one well-placed Garda source said the men being questioned last night are not believed to have been involved in the spate of robberies of cash-in-transit vans last year, during which more than €2 million was stolen.