Gardai ram gang car off road
Armed officers foil revenge hit by notorious criminals
GARDAI believe they foiled a gangland revenge hit when they rammed armed members of a notorious criminal gang off a quiet country road.
It is suspected that the McCarthy-Dundon criminal gang were about to carry out an attack on a rival target in Limerick following Monday's attempted shooting of two gang members -- which resulted in a third man, Daniel Phillips, being severely wounded.
Three men and a woman -- all in their 20s and from Limerick city -- were arrested by gardai yesterday after they tried to escape from the scene. They were found to be in possession of a 9mm handgun and ammunition. The drama unfolded at Drombanna, Ballyneety, Co Limerick, at around midday after the gang members were tracked travelling in a Toyota Avensis along the rural road.
Members of the Emergency Response Unit (ERU) were travelling in the opposite direction towards Limerick when they rammed the criminals' car.
With weapons drawn, in front of shocked motorists who were ordered to hide behind their vehicles, the armed gardai forced those in the car to hand themselves over. Two of those arrested received superficial injuries but did not require hospital treatment.
"This garda jeep overtook me on a bend. I saw him in the mirror, I wouldn't have seen him coming otherwise," a fuel delivery man at the scene recalled.
"Next thing he went straight into and rammed the Toyota Avensis off the road. I couldn't believe it -- it was right in front of me. I had to brake hard, the truck was all over the road.
"Whatever way the Avensis spun it clipped another car coming behind it and ended up straight into the ditch -- it was in bits. One of the guards came over and beckoned me to get out of the truck and get behind it straight away.
"It was crazy stuff -- they had their guns pointed out at them and were screaming at them to put their hands up in the air and to get down on the ground. One guard was pointing his gun at the driver screaming to put his hands up. They (the gardai) had them face down on the road and arrested within seconds."
Two of the arrested men are well-known criminals from the Moyross area of Limerick. They are related and have been to the forefront of the city's bloody criminal feud since it erupted.
They are both aligned to the McCarthy-Dundon side, have criminal convictions and have a long-held personal grudge against members of the Keane-Collopy criminal gang.
It is understood they have both been under constant surveillance in recent months. The two men are attempting to gain complete control of Limerick's drugs trade on the northside of the city.
Another man arrested in the car is from the Weston area of Limerick and has associates heavily involved in the McCarthy-Dundon criminal gang. The woman under detention is a mother.
Arrests
The suspects were being questioned at Henry Street, Bruff, Roxboro and Mayorstone garda stations yesterday.
The arrests are regarded as a major blow for the gardai against organised crime in Limerick.
An ERU officer injured during the arrests was rushed to the Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Limerick where he received an X-ray and was kept overnight for observation. His condition is described by a hospital spokesman as "stable".
It is believed the suspects arrested yesterday were in the final stages of carrying out a revenge attack following Monday night's shooting in Limerick.
Daniel Phillips (20) was shot twice while sitting in a Volkswagen Passat car with two members of the McCarthy-Dundon gang. He remains in a critical condition in Cork University Hospital. The chief suspect for the shooting is still in custody. He is a well-known criminal and drug dealer aligned to the Collopy criminal gang.
- Barry Duggan
Irish Independent
