Gardaí are questioning five men arrested after officers foiled an attempted armed robbery on the home of a businessman in Glounthaune in east Cork last night.
Two men in their 30s and 40s were arrested near the scene of the attempted armed robbery at around 11pm. Three others were arrested in the early hours of today.
It’s understood a number of men attempted to break into the home of the businessman - who is in his 50s - but the alarm was raised, gardaí were alerted and the raid was foiled.
Two men - both from the southside of the city and well-known to gardaí - were captured near the house and arrested. They are being detained under Section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act and can be held for up to seven days.
Gardaí then began a search operation for another three men whom they believed were involved in the foiled raid. Armed officers from Cobh and Midleton were joined by armed officers from Corkcity as well as armed members of the Regional Support Unit.
The Garda Air Unit was also requested and the helicopter carried out aerial reconnaissance near where the raid was foiled.
At around 12.40am, gardaí arrested another two men in a car in the Glanmire area near to Cork city and both were detained under Section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act.
In a further follow-up search, a fifth man was arrested in a house in the Mayfield area of Cork’s northside.
Two of the gang are now being held in Cobh Garda station, two are being held in Midleton Garda Station and the fifth man is being held in Mayfield Garda station in the city.
Amongst those arrested is a man in his late 40s who has convictions for armed robberies around Cork going back 20 years and would be suspected of several other robberies.
Gardaí are investigating whether last night’s foiled raid may have been linked to a similar type raid on the home of a businessman in the Carrignavar area of Cork on March 27th.
On that occasion, three men called to a house at Dromboy South, four miles north of Carrignavar village and threatened a 58-year-old woman at gunpoint.
The gang tied up the woman and made off with over €10,000 in cash before making their getaway in the woman’s Lexus car which was later found near Killeens.
