A SUSPECTED leading member of the INLA in Dublin is being questioned by gardaí about his alleged involvement in the illegal organisation and using and supplying pipe bombs and hand grenades.
Gardaí believe the suspect, who is in his mid-30s and is originally from the North, has been at the centre of rising gangland tensions in Dublin for over a year following his release from prison.
Since then gardaí believe he has resumed his extortion-based activities. He is thought to have threatened drug dealers with violence unless they pay him and to have done this under the guise of anti-drug vigilantism.
He is also suspected of using pipe bombs and hand grenades against dealers he has targeted.
Gardaí have become so concerned at the frequency with which Army bomb disposal experts are being called out to deal with devices that a specialist Garda investigation has been established to trace the origin of the devices.
Gardaí now fear the worsening tensions between the INLA suspect and the Crumlin-Drimnagh gang leader are about to spill over into a fresh round of fatal gangland shootings.
Surveillance has been stepped up on key figures and patrols increased in parts of Crumlin, Drimnagh and Dublin’s south inner city.
The INLA suspect was arrested in Tallaght on Sunday night by members of the Special Detective Unit. He was taken to Blackrock Garda station where he was still being questioned last night under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act.
Gardaí have received reports of two attempted gun attacks in the past 10 days in which the Crumlin-Drimnagh gang leader is thought to have been the target. Gardaí believe the INLA man’s rivals are also planning to shoot him.
The INLA suspect was arrested last week about an alleged knife attack, linked to the ongoing row with the Crumlin-Drimnagh gang leader, in Dublin’s south inner city. He was released without charge.
As well as having become embroiled in a feud with the gang leader, the INLA suspect has also been active on a number of other fronts.
Last August the INLA man was one of a group of people arrested at a house in Tallaght. When gardaí arrived they found a suspected drug dealer stripped naked, bound and beaten in the bathroom. Gardaí believe the INLA-led gang were trying to extort money from the victim. It is understood the victim was too scared to make a formal statement of complaint after he was rescued from the house.
