Gardaí in Dublin have arrested four men in connection with a recent spate of burglaries in the Midlands area.
The men - one is aged in his 60s, one in his 20s and two in their 30s - were intercepted by gardaí in the Lucan area on Wednesday evening following a report of a burglary in Mullingar earlier in the day.
They were found to be in possession of jewellery believed to be the proceeds of burglaries, along with “house-breaking implements”.
They are being held at Mullingar Garda station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act under suspicion of having committed burglaries.
Gardaí say countrywide orders were issued last week for the launch of the winter phase of Operation Thor, which targets the activities of roving criminal gangs. The orders directed “a range of operational activity be undertaken for the purpose of preventing a predictable upsurge in burglaries which occurs during the winter months”.
Senior gardaí were last week tasked with gathering “intelligence regarding organised crime gangs” who were travelling around the country to commit burglaries close to motorways for ease of escape, and nominating potential targets to monitor.
It followed about 40 burglaries in the Mayfield Garda district in Cork over the last month, which are believed to have been carried out by a Dublin-based gang. Members of the gang were said to have clocked up speeds of up to 200km/h on motorways during their getaways.
The men suspected of carrying out the Mullingar burglaries were said to have been driving a stolen high-powered vehicle at the time of their arrest.