The moment John Gilligan was nabbed at Spanish holiday resort
Police arrest notorious gang boss on drug, gun charges
SPANISH police are trying to establish if a gun recovered at a Spanish property where convicted drug trafficker John Gilligan was staying was used in the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin.
As first revealed in the Irish Daily Mail this week, the notorious Dublin criminal was arrested following a series of raids in Alicante in a joint operation between Spanish, Irish and UK authorities which led to six arrests and the
‘The revolver is the same mark and model’
seizure of firearms and drugs.
Police seized four kilos of cannabis and 15,000 pills, as well as cash, documents and mobile phones linked to an international drug trafficking operation.
A revolver, said to be the same make and model as the one used to murder Veronica Guerin in 1996, was also found and Spanish police say a possible l i nk i s being investigated.
Five other people i ncluding a British woman and Gilligan’s son Darren were arrested and released on bail pending an ongoing criminal investigation but banned from leaving Spain.
Policia Nacional posted a video on Twitter yesterday which showed the raid on a Spanish residence. The extraordinary footage showed Gilligan being ordered to lie facedown on his kitchen floor and handcuffed before the hidden weapon, wrapped in a plastic bag, was discovered with the help of a metal detector.
It then showed Gilligan, 68, being led away in handcuffs by police.
Gilligan, cleared of masterminding Veronica Guerin’s murder in March 2001 after a 43- day trial – but handed a 28-year prison sentence for importing two tons of cannabis resin worth €35million – was l ast night l anguishing in prison near Alicante after being remanded in custody by an investigating judge.
The crime boss had threatened to kill Guerin and kidnap her fiveyear-old son after she confronted him about how he made his money. She was brutally assassinated not long after in June 1996.
Gilligan now faces drugs trafficking, weapons and gang membership charges. Spain’s National Police said in a statement: ‘Those arrested, led by a well-known Irish criminal, were part of a violent group of drug and arms traffickers and specialised in sending illegal merchandise from Spain to the UK and Ireland through parcels.
‘The revolver that has been found is the same mark and model as the one used in the assassination of an Irish journalist in Dublin in 1996.
‘Spanish officers are working with the Irish police to determine if it’s the same gun used to end her life.’
Gardaí have confirmed they are working with the Spanish police on the matter. Authorities said the investigation began in Alicante last year after reports that a gang led by ‘a well-known Irish criminal’ had settled there.
They said that the investigation has led to ‘the total dismantling of the criminal organisation.’
They added: ‘The six investigated people have been arrested, among them the leader of the group, and four house searches have been carried out where another four kilos of packaged marijuana buds, 11,000 pills, two vehicles, ten mobile phone devices and various documentation have been seized.’
The l ate journalist’s brother Jimmy Guerin, told reporters he was ‘surprised’ by the news but sceptical about the link.
He said: ‘I think it’s speculative but I don’t think the Spanish authorities are irresponsible. I’d be sceptical if a gun that was used on the Naas Road turned up in a garden in Spain. Why would you take the risk of bringing it out of the country?’
Gilligan was acquitted of the murder of Guerin in 2001 after a 43-day trial at the Special Criminal Court.
Judge Diarmuid O’Donovan said the court had ‘grave suspicions’ about Gilligan’s involvement in Guerin’s murder but the evidence produced at trial was not enough to convict him.
However, Gilligan was later sentenced to 28 years in prison for
‘I think that it’s speculative’
drug trafficking that same year.
Ms Guerin was working for the Sunday Independent when she was shot dead at traffic lights at Newlands Cross on the Naas dual carriageway, on the outskirts of Dublin, on June 26, 1996.
Two men on a motorbike pulled alongside her and one shot her with a Colt Python revolver. The gun was never found
The assassination led to the formation of Ireland’s Criminal Assets Bureau targeting organised criminals’ illegally acquired assets.
Gilligan was tried for the murder with other members of his gang after a former soldier who prepared the gun turned State’s witness and was given immunity from prosecution. Judge O’Donovan said as he acquitted Gilligan at Dublin’s Special Criminal Court he had ‘grave suspicions’ the drugs baron was i nvolved i n the killing. Brian ‘Tosser’ Meehan, a former friend of Gilligan, was convicted of Guerin’s murder and remains in prison.
The weapon seized by Spanish police on Tuesday was confiscated during raids sparked by the operation launched last year against a suspected drug-smuggling gang.
Police said the gang had allegedly been smuggling marijuana and tranquilliser-type pills popular on the black market through the post from Spain to the UK and Ireland.
A Spanish National Police spokesman did not name Gilligan in his statement but said: ‘ The wellknown Irish criminal who allegedly headed the organisation was sentenced to 28 years in prison in 2001 and served 17 years.
‘Irish investigators linked his organisation to the murder of the Irish journalist.’
A court official confirmed Gilligan had been remanded in custody on Thursday after appearing before a duty judge in a closed court hearing in the Costa Blanca town of Torrevieja.
He can be held in custody on remand for up to four years without trial, although it is normal for most suspects to be released on bail after a maximum of two years.