Garda surveillance on two of Dublin's biggest armed drugs gangs is to be stepped up, following the shooting dead of a young drug dealer in a gangland-style killing in the south inner city at the weekend.
The murder of 21-year-old Wayne Zambra, of Lourdes Road Maryland, Dublin 8, has led to fears of a fresh outbreak of gangland violence in the city.
His killing early on Saturday is the eighth in a series of tit-for-tat murders between two gangs based in the southwest Dublin suburbs of Drimnagh and Crumlin.
The feud resulted in the killing of three men in gun attacks in Firhouse and Clontarf in a 48-hour period last November.
In the latest incident Mr Zambra was shot twice in the head as he sat in his Honda CRV car with another man on Cameron Street at around 1am on Saturday.
Two men, both of whom are believed to have been armed with handguns, approached them. Five shots were discharged into Mr Zambra's vehicle, with two of them fatally wounding him in the head and another wounding his companion in the leg.
The injured man is a 22-year-old who lives close to the murder scene. He managed to run home and raise the alarm.
Mr Zambra was taken by ambulance to St James's Hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival.
The first gardaí to arrive on the murder scene found two men very close to where Mr Zambra lay dead in his car. They were arrested and taken to Kevin Street Garda station.
Both have been released without charge and have been cleared of any involvement in the killing.
Gardaí believe the killer and at least one other associate travelled to and from the scene in a silver-coloured car that was seen in the area at the time.
Detectives are working on the theory that the murder was well planned and that those who carried it out had waited in their car outside the pub where the victim and the injured man were drinking.
"This was a clinical killing - they knew who they were after and he definitely wasn't meant to walk away from this one," said one senior garda.
Gardaí believe those behind the attack intended to kill both Mr Zambra and the injured man. Detectives said while it was certain the attack was linked to the long-running drug turf war between the Drimnagh and Crumlin gangs, the specific motive for targeting Mr Zambra was unclear.
Informed sources said Mr Zambra had been living in the Tallaght area for a period but had recently moved back to Dublin 8. Gardaí believe he may have moved from Tallaght because he was threatened and feared for his safety.
They are investigating if this might be linked to his murder.
He was a drug user and drug dealer. In early 2004 he was jailed for 30 months for repeatedly stabbing a man outside a pub on Wolfe Tone Quay, Dublin.
The investigation is being carried out by gardaí at Kevin Street backed by members of the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, including its organised crime unit.
Officers working on Operation Anvil, which is targeting armed gangs in the Dublin area, already had many of the feuding gang members under surveillance.
Anybody with information about Mr Zambra's murder can contact Kevin Street gardaí on 01-6669400.
Feud victims
August 2001: Declan Gavin (20) of Mourne Road, Drimnagh, is stabbed to death outside Crumlin Shopping Centre. A drug dealer, he was killed by members of a rival gang.
July 2002: Following a number of tit for tat attacks Joseph Rattigan (18), Drimnagh, is shot dead as he walks along Cooley Road, Crumlin. The gang Gavin was associated with carried out the murder.
February 2004: In a revenge killing, Paul Warren (24), St Teresa's Gardens, Dolphin's Barn, is shot dead at Grey's pub, Newmarket Square.
March 2005: John Roche (24), Drimnagh is shot dead in Kilmainham as the tit for tat killings continue.
November 13th, 2005: Gavin Byrne (30), from Firhouse, and Darren Geoghegan (26), from Drimnagh are shot dead as they sit in a car in Firhouse. Their killings are believed to have been carried out by the gang in which John Roche was involved.
November 15th, 2005: In direct retaliation for the double Firhouse murders, Noel Roche (27), Drimnagh, is murdered as he sits in a car in traffic in Clontarf. He was a brother of murdered John Roche.
August 19th, 2006: 21-year-old Wayne Zambra, of Lourdes Road, Dublin 8, becomes the latest victim.
