It was, according to one source, not a question of "if" but "when" Brendan Joseph "Speedy" Fegan would be killed. He had been well aware for a long time that attempts would be made to kill him, and told associates he was high on a Provisional IRA target list.
Fegan, a close associate of the Dublin drugs gang which murdered journalist Veronica Guerin in June 1996, survived an attempt on his life three months ago as he left an apartment block in south Belfast because he was wearing body armour under his jacket.
One source pointed out yesterday that although he had been struck on that occasion by a bullet and was in severe pain, Fegan did not head straight to the nearby city hospital or Donegall Pass RUC station. Instead, he drove himself to Musgrave Street RUC station, it is presumed to meet his police "handler", and was brought from there to hospital.
Fegan also acted as an informant for the Garda, according to a Garda source. He regularly passed on information about other drugs dealers and any information he gleaned about the activities of both republican and loyalist para-militaries.
The Dublin gang supplied Fegan with large amounts of cannabis which he smuggled into Northern Ireland. He regularly socialised with the gang at Dublin night clubs and at boxing matches and horse races.
After one leading member of the gang was eventually arrested in connection with Ms Guerin's murder, Fegan was discovered by gardai in bed with the gang member's girlfriend. He was arrested but released on the insistence of both his RUC and Garda contacts, according to Garda sources.
Fegan's career was risky from the outset. His first big drugs operation involved buying cannabis from criminals in Dublin and bringing it to Belfast where he supplied loyalist para-militaries, mostly members of the Ulster Defence Association in west and east Belfast.
He was arrested in the company of a leading UDA man in the Shankill area four years ago, but no drugs were found and he was released.
It was probably around this time that he began acting as an informant, as he appeared to be immune to prosecution despite his growing reputation as a drug dealer with an extraordinarily lavish life-style for such a young man.
When he first came to the notice of The Irish Times, in relation to his drugs connections with loyalists, he was living in an apartment in a predominantly Protestant part of Co. Down. He was driving very expensive cars despite being in his early 20s.
He was, for some years, an associate of another drugs smuggler based in the Border area, Paddy Farrell. They fell out in the summer of 1997 after Fegan stole a large consignment of cannabis from Farrell. Just as it appeared that Farrell was about to take his revenge on Fegan, Farrell was shot dead by his girlfriend, Lorraine Farrell (no relation), who then killed herself.
Fegan then became one of the main drugs dealers in the Border area. He continuing to live extravagantly and made no attempt to conceal the source of his wealth.
One Newry man who knew Fegan's family said when a neighbour recently admired Fegan's new car, he replied: "Well, that's the narcotics business for you."
Fegan came from a respectable family background from the Meadow area of Newry, but he is said to have been wayward since his early teens.
In the past year stories and photographs about Fegan have appeared regularly in the Sunday World newspaper. Earlier this year he was blamed for attempting to burn the newspaper's Belfast offices.
Fegan's concern was that the publicity would increase his chances of becoming an IRA target. He had decided to try to intimidate journalists writing about him. His concern was well-founded and he began wearing body armour when visiting Belfast.
Despite claims by Sinn Fein yesterday that there was no IRA involvement in his murder, sources in the Border area yesterday said the Provisionals were probably responsible.
Since its first cease-fire the IRA has killed as many as 10 people for alleged drug dealing, the last being a small-time drugs dealer and petty criminal, Gerard Moran, from north inner Dublin who died from a shotgun injury to his leg.
Last month, the IRA in Dublin also shot Alan Byrne, who was due to give evidence in a murder case involving the death of a heroin addict, Josie Dwyer, from the Liberties. The south Armagh IRA was also responsible for murdering the former IRA member turned author, Eammon Collins, in February. He was beaten and stabbed to death as he walked his dog.