Ex-paramilitaries and "ordinary" crime gangs are believed to be considering abduction robberies like that of the Co Donegal bank official and his wife, according to Garda sources.
The gangs have worked out that it is easier and less risky to abduct and hold officials and their families hostage than attempt armed raids. Two armed robbers have been killed in confrontations with the Garda's armed Emergency Response Unit (ERU) in the past two years.
The increasing sophistication and firepower of the gardai has contributed considerably to reducing armed raids, which were almost commonplace in the 1970s and 1980s.
Instead, organised gangs are believed to be opting for the "soft" alternative of kidnapping and holding people for ransom.
One of the largest robberies in recent years involved the abduction of a couple in south Dublin last November. A woman was taken at gunpoint to the Nassau Street branch of American Express and forced to open the safe while her husband was held hostage at their home.
The raiders, a south Dublin gang raising funds to set themselves up in the drugs trade, escaped with about £500,000 in different currencies. Most of the money was later recovered when Liverpool police raided a house in the city looking for drugs.
After the American Express raid, gardai learned that other gangs, including some with former republican paramilitaries, were planning similar robberies.
The threat has led financial institutions to increase greatly personal security measures for staff with access to large sums of money.
Many officials from financial institutions that hold large amounts of cash have had elaborate security systems installed in their homes to offset the kidnap threat.
There was no indication of who was responsible for yesterday's cross-Border abduction and robbery. However, sources close to the investigation said the fact that the gang had held the couple in a house in Strabane not far from their home suggested that the robbers were local.
There have been a number of such raids in the north-west area in the past few years. In some instances the RUC and Garda suspect the gangs responsible include former republican paramilitaries who have turned to freelance crime since the calling of the ceasefires.
Robberies have also been carried out by dissident, anti-ceasefire republican groups like the Continuity IRA and "Real IRA". There was no indication yesterday that either group was responsible for the latest robbery but Garda sources say this is not ruled out.
Gardai pointed out that there have been some similar robberies in the same general area and that in most cases it was suspected that non-paramilitary gangs were responsible.
In April 1997 the wife and children of a Donegal businessman were tied up and robbed by an armed gang in their home.
Mr John Patton, from Ballyboffey, who owns a frozen food wholesale business, was out on a delivery when three masked and armed men forced their way into the house. They tied up his wife Mary and children aged 10 and six. A lorry driver who was in the house at the time was also tied up. The men then ransacked the house before making off with an undisclosed sum of money.
In July 1996, a Derry businessman was abducted as he left the Pennyburn Industrial Estate and was left tied up in a field overnight by three armed and masked men.
The man was bundled into the boot of his own car and driven 14 miles across the Border to Manorcunningham in Co Donegal. No money was demanded and it is thought the gang may have been seeking another person with the intention of seeking a ransom.
In October 1997 a Derry man was abducted as he returned from working in the Seagate Technology computer plant. The gang held his wife and four children captive as they lay in wait for him. It is believed the gang intended to force the man to allow the gang into the computer plant but abandoned its plans and released the family unhurt.
In July this year two armed and masked men robbed the post office at Ardmore in Derry after holding the postmaster at gunpoint along with staff and a customer. It was the second robbery at a post office within two months. The robbers made off with a substantial sum of money towards the Waterside. Police believe a third man may have been driving the car.