Christmas bail for gangster Gilligan
Drug baron freed as Spanish police say investigation is nearly f inished
JOHN GILLIGAN has been released from jail in Spain, the Irish Mail on Sunday can reveal.
The drug smuggler had been held since his arrest at a Costa Blanca villa in October during which police found a gun buried in the grounds and seized quantities of drugs.
It is understood Spanish prosecutors did not oppose a request from the crime boss’s lawyer to his conditional release and he was freed on Monday.
The conditions of the Dubliner’s release include a ban on leaving Spain, seizure of his passport and a requirement to sign on every fortnight at a court.
The MoS understands the investigation into the aging criminal is nearing a conclusion, which is unusual for Spain where investigations can take months if not years.
A judicial source said: ‘The court agreed to release this person on bail because it considers the investigation is nearly completed and less burdensome measures can be adopted for the person under investigation that will also guarantee he does not escape the action of justice.
‘As conditions of his release, as well as the payment of bail, he has been banned from leaving Spanish soil, his passport has been removed and he has to sign on every fortnight at court.
‘The investigation against this person and five others is ongoing.’
The five include Gilligan and his son Darren.
The probe began shortly after their arrests for alleged crimes against public health, unlawful possession of firearms and membership of a criminal gang. They have not yet been charged, as formal charges are only laid in Spain shortly before trial.
All six are classified as ‘investigados’ under Spanish law, which means simply that they are under formal investigation.
Only trials take place in public in Spain. Everything else before that, including the criminal probe led by an investigating magistrate, is done behind closed doors.
We revealed in October that Gilligan was arrested at a Costa Blanca villa. At the time, Spanish police found a gun in the garden of the villa which they say had been hidden ‘like a souvenir’.
Detectives thought it could prove crucial in the Veronica Guerin case because of its rarity and the way it had been concealed. It led to suspicions that it may have been the gun used in the shooting, but it is understood that has been ruled out.
The weapon seized at the villa in Torrevieja, near Alicante, is a Colt Python .357 Magnum, identical to the one that was used to kill Ms Guerin. The serial number had been erased.
The cold-blooded killing of the Sunday Independent journalist led to Gilligan’s trial and acquittal for masterminding her murder and a 28-year jail term for importing drugs
One well-placed Spanish source said at the time: ‘On one hand it wouldn’t make sense for Gilligan to have the murder weapon at his home because it would incriminate him. But this gun was not being kept to use, quite the contrary. It had been hidden by someone who had placed the gun in a hole they dug in the ground and covered with gravel and a type of cloth you use to stop weeds coming through.’
Gilligan, 68, is still wanted in Ireland for alleged criminal damage to a neighbour’s property near his former Jessbrook home in Co. Meath, which was seized from him by the Criminal Assets Bureau.
‘He hasn’t retired that’s for sure,’ the source said. ‘He flew into Belfast a number of times over the past year and it is suspected he may have travelled over the border under cover because he would have been lifted for a criminal damage issue if he was here.’
The raid on the villa crucially took place as the drug baron was preparing a delivery to Ireland of marijuana and powerful prescription-only sleeping pills known as Zimmos, which heroin addicts use to help them sleep and numb pain.
An insider said Gilligan was in the villa with part of the consignment and another two suspects were in a car outside with a further two boxes due to be sent via post. ‘Let’s just say he was caught redhanded,’ the source said.
‘He has been banned from leaving Spanish soil’
‘This gun had been hidden by someone’