CAB targets Killarney crime gang

FIVE ARRESTED DURING KILLARNEY AND DUBLIN CAB RAIDS RELEASED

FIVE Kerry men who were arrested on foot of Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) raids in Killarney and Dublin in the past week have been released without charge.

The raids are part of an ongoing investigation into the activities of a Killarney-based organised crime gang.

The first raid took place last Thursday morning at around 6.30am, when officers from CAB – with support from local Gardaí – carried out a large -scale operation in Killarney. Three men – all aged in their 30s – were arrested as part of the operation which involved 35 Gardaí and CAB officers.

The three men were detained on suspicion of money laundering and held for several hours under Section Four of the Criminal Justice Act. Two were detained at Killarney Garda Station, while the third was held in Tralee. The trio were released without charge on Thursday night.

On Monday – in an operation directly linked to last week’s raid in Killarney – two men, both from Killarney and aged in their 30s and 40s, were arrested at Clondalkin in Dublin.

Both were questioned for several hours at Clondalkin Garda Station and were subsequently released without charge.

The Killarney and Dublin raids were both part of Operation Tarmac, a joint initiative by CAB and the Kerry Garda Division aimed at specific individuals believed to be involved in organised criminality.

A garda spokesperson said files on the five men – who are all known to each other – are being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), and investigations are ongoing.

Last week’s arrests follow a major operation last year.

In November 2017, in one of the largest operations of its kind seen in Kerry, CAB and gardaí launched a major crackdown on the Killarney-based organised-crime gang in the early hours of the morning.

In that operation, 11 houses were raided, several of them in the Ballyspillane estate. Nine luxury cars and jeeps; over €100,000 in Euro and Sterling cash and a large amount of jewellery including Rolex and Cartier Watches were seized.