Fear and loathing in Ireland's criminal underworld

Tension is running high in the Irish criminal underworld, HotPress has learned, with many of the major drug dealers feeling “extremely edgy”. This new atmosphere of fear and loathing has been sparked by the substantial seizures of drugs made by police in Spain and Ireland during recent weeks. And inevitably it has been compounded by a spate of shootings, including the assassination of Paddy Doyle in Spain and the attempted murder of Martin Foley, dubbed The Viper by tabloid newspapers, in Dublin.

While both customs and the Garda drugs squad are busy patting themselves on the back for their successes, the criminal underworld is apparently undertaking its own internal tribunal – with many of the major drugs players now convinced that an inside informer is tipping off the cops.
“The city is rife with rumours of rats in the ranks,” admitted the major drug dealer who was interviewed last month for the Hot Press drugs issue. “Everybody is very edgy – and everybody I know is convinced that at least one biggish drugs dealer has been ratting. There’s been some movement to pinpoint who exactly is leaking the information. Naturally, once the culprit is identified for sure, there will be hell to pay.”
Suspicion has now grown to such an extent that there are fears of a split within the ranks one of the major Dublin-based drugs gangs, which is likely to see three of its key figures scrambling for control. If this happens, further bloodshed is a certainty. According to gangland sources, it could all be down to one dealer who has turned police informer following his arrest last November, after what was assumed to be a routine drugs seizure. But the seizure turned out to be anything but run-of-the-mill, with Gardai reportedly discovering a murder weapon at the scene. That, sources say, was enough to convince the dealer to cut a very different kind of deal.

MURDER GUN
“The word is that police stumbled across a small drug deal in a warehouse used by one of the gangs,” another gangland source explained. “The police searched the whole place and found a gun – a gun which should have been dispensed with, as it had been used in a recent shooting. The man found with the keys to the warehouse was suddenly looking at going down for a murder.”
Hot Press understands that the criminal also had another problem. “The drugs he was found with were not belonging to his own gang,” the source added, “but were actually drugs that he’d skimmed off the top, for his own gain. Given how bad the situation was, it wasn’t hard to convince him that he was looking at a very long sentence – as well as retribution from his boss.”
Reports suggest that he opted to co-operate with the Gardai. Less than 24 hours later, another five members of the gang were taken in. “He walked, on the strict understanding that there’d be no charges. However, the damage was done. He couldn’t let on that he had been involved, because his boss would know the drugs had been skimmed off.
“He pointed the finger at the other two key-holders and suddenly everyone was paranoid. It was all the cops needed. They got a surveillance team to watch members of the gang. It led to three small raids on cars and houses in Drimnagh and Crumlin. Each take meant more information. With the drugs off the street, and Christmas approaching, the gang had to take a few chances. The police were able to watch their movements and follow each of the gang members.
“This particular gang are extremely dangerous and are involved in the feud that has caused many deaths over the last six years in Dublin,” the source confirmed.
The alleged informer was recently caught red-handed again with a large consignment of drugs. “This time the consignment, which belonged to his boss, was large. He and two others were taken into custody but released afterwards. The files have gone to the DPP,” explained the source.
Other arrests followed. But even more crucially, it appears that a listing of mobile numbers for many of the major players was also discovered. Armed with this knowledge, the drugs squad were able to uncover other drugs-cutting premises.
“It seems that within days, a number of gangs all over the city had similar raids. At the moment, this informer is playing everyone off each other and is spinning stories. But he’ll be soon caught out,” said one drugs dealer.
And sure enough, in the lethal demi-monde of drug crime in Ireland, it probably is only a matter of time...