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Organised crime killings shock Ireland
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| 16 January 2007 |
Police armed with sub-machine guns patrolled the streets of the Irish capital Dublin in December 2006 in the wake of five violent deaths in less than a week, several of which were allegedly linked to organised crime.
The most prominent death in the December wave of killings was that of Martin 'Marlo' Hyland, said by police to be a major trafficker of heroin, cocaine and guns into Ireland and linked to several murders and shootings.
Although Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said there was no indication that the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) had any part in Hyland's murder, police said a number of recent gang-related killings had shown a high level of expertise. Police are investigating suggestions that criminal gangs in the Irish Republic have contacts with some former paramilitaries.
The UK's Northern Ireland Office warned in a report published on 9 October 2006 that the PIRA ceasefire had led to a growth in organised crime on both sides of the border, allowing existing gangs to "diversify and broaden their horizons".
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© 2007 Jane's Information Group
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