A cache of firearms found by gardaí in Dublin yesterday is believed to belong to the Finglas-based organised crime gang formerly headed by murdered drug dealer Martin "Marlo" Hyland.
The gang was last year implicated in five murders including that of Hyland and plumber's apprentice Anthony Campbell, as well as Baiba Saulite, a Latvian mother of two.
The five guns were found during searches of open ground on Attracta Road, Cabra, by the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, including members of its organised crime unit. Local gardaí assisted.
The haul includes three shotguns and two rifles. Several thousand rounds of ammunition were also recovered, including 9mm bullets and shotgun cartridges.
No arrests were made but senior Garda sources described the weapons find as significant.
They are hopeful technical testing already under way will determine if the guns were used in murders committed by the gang in 2004 and 2005 in which shotguns were used.
The five murders carried out last year in which the gang was implicated include:
On December 12th, Hyland's own gang shot him dead at a house in Finglas because he was attracting so much Garda and media attention. They also killed plumber's apprentice Anthony Campbell (20) because he was a possible eyewitness.
Baiba Saulite (28) was shot dead at her home in Swords on November 19th. Gardaí believe Hyland's gang assisted the contract killing.
On November 23rd Drogheda man Paul Reay (26) was shot dead. He was caught last August with cocaine valued at €400,000 owned by Hyland, who feared Reay was about to turn informer.
Drug dealer Paddy Harte (42) was gunned down on May 29th in Edenmore, Raheny, after he flooded Finglas with heroin, bringing down street prices and angering Hyland.
Yesterday's operation is part of a major criminal investigation into Hyland's gang, whom gardaí believe are among the biggest, if not the biggest, importers of drugs into the State.
It is now headed by the men who killed their former leader.
When gardaí first raided the area searched yesterday on June 2nd last year, they found a handgun, a rifle, ammunition and a stolen motorbike. All belonged to Hyland's gang.
A number of houses he owned in Cabra were raided by the Criminal Assets Bureau on the same day and financial documents were taken for analysis.
On August 1st further raids were carried out on houses connected to Hyland in Cabra and Finglas after cannabis valued at €2.5 million belonging to the gang was found in Rathcoole, Co Dublin. Five of his gang were arrested.
All these raids were carried out under Operation Oak. It was established last year to specifically target Hyland's gang after Operation Anvil, which was set up in mid-2005 to target armed gangs in Dublin, revealed it to be the biggest and most active crime gang. The investigation has continued despite Hyland's murder.