Fear and loathing in Ireland's criminal underworld

A spate of drugs seizures has led Dublin's top criminals to suspect a "rat" in their midst. Once the culprit is identified, a bloodbath is guaranteed.

Jason O'Toole, 21 Feb 2008

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.”

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