A rooftop raid was foiled by gardaí in Limerick yesterday when two men were caught drilling their way into an AIB branch inside a specially erected sound-proof tent.
The two, who are well-known Limerick criminals, were caught by a team of armed gardaí at 2 a.m. yesterday morning.
Gardaí had mounted a major surveillance operation at the bank in Castletroy, on the outskirts of Limerick city.
The raiders were found with high-powered industrial drilling equipment and were inside a green, canvas tent, which had been specially soundproofed with aero-board to drown out the sound of drilling.
Two powerful core drills - capable of cutting through concrete - were found in the tent. The core drills were almost 3ft high and were found with a number of hammers and saws.
It is understood that a lightbulb had also been connected inside the tent. It was hooked up to the bank's air-conditioning system.
The raiders had brought gas cylinders into the tent to power their cutting torches.
"This was an elaborate, sophisticated attempt at breaking into a financial institution, which had been highly organised to the point of military precision," said one Garda source.
Gardaí believe the two raiders had been drilling their way through the bank's roof for a number of hours when they were arrested.
It also emerged last night that the daring raiders had been on the roof of the bank on at least one previous occasion.
"They had definitely been up there a couple of days before if not the day before as we uncovered equipment there on Monday," revealed one Garda source.
Yesterday's surveillance operation involved teams of armed gardaí under Det Insp Bob Noonan, from Roxboro Garda Station in Limerick, and Det Sgt Dan Haugh, of Henry Street Garda Station in Limerick city.
One of the two men arrested yesterday had only recently served a prison sentence for robbery. "Both suspects are very well known to gardaí and are among the most serious criminals in Limerick city," said a Garda source.
The two men were arrested at the scene and brought to Henry Street Garda Station, where they were detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act.
They are both expected to appear before Limerick District Court today.