Gardaí foil murder bid with dramatic train arrest

ARMED Gardai foiled a gangland hit after a 23-year-old associate of the Hutch gang was arrested on a crowded train with a fully loaded handgun.

Dramatic scenes unfolded at Connolly Station at 3.20pm yesterday when the suspect was pulled off the train by heavily armed gardai.

In a follow-up operation, a 20-year-old woman was arrested at Dublin Airport as she attempted to flee the country.

The Irish Independent can reveal the young woman, who is a very close associate of Hutch associate Keith Murtagh. She was seen handing over the loaded firearm at the busiest train station in the country.

Both suspects – who are well known to each other – were being detained last night at Store Street Garda Station.

Heavily armed officers from the Armed Support Unit (ASU) pounced on the young criminal as commuters looked on during rush hour.

It is suspected this loaded handgun was being delivered to a hideout in the North where at least half a dozen Hutch gang associates are in hiding.

These include cartel targets James ‘Mago’ Gately, Keith Murtagh and a young criminal who is suspected of involvement in the Regency Hotel attack last year.

The suspected Regency gunman is very closely linked to the 20-year-old woman who was arrested in Dublin Airport yesterday.

Last night, sources said gardai cannot rule out that a hit was planned to take place on the train and were forced to act swiftly. The male arrested with the firearm in yesterday’s operation is an associate of the Hutch gang and a suspected drug dealer. From the north-inner city, he is wellknown to local gardai.

A relative of this man, a 32-year-old male, was previously warned of a threat against his life as part of the Hutch/ Kinahan feud.

“In all probability this loaded firearm was being delivered to Northern Ireland where gang members linked to Gerry Hutch are hiding. But it can’t be ruled out that they were going to carry out a hit on the train itself,” a senior source said last night.

“It’s regrettable the general public were scared by the situation in the train station, but this was a life or death situation and a firearm has been taken off the streets,” the source added.