Six men arrested in Meath, Westmeath and Monaghan as part of the Garda investigation in a Provisional IRA arms-smuggling plot during the summer are to be questioned further today.
Some of the men, aged in their 30s and 40s, are understood to have republican associations. Their arrests are part of a follow-up investigation into the way the IRA planned to import rifles, shotguns, handguns, silencers and ammunition into the State through the postal service.
Garda sources say a number of weapons came into the State before the smuggling operation was intercepted by British police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Florida.
Houses and other property at Trim and Enfield in Co Meath, Riverstown near Mullingar, Co Westmeath, and Bailieborough, Co Cavan, were searched yesterday but nothing was found.
Three men were arrested at about 6 a.m. yesterday in Trim, one in Enfield, one in Mullingar and one in Bailieborough under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act. They can be held for 72 hours without charge.
Three men from Northern Ireland and a Co Cork woman are in prison in Florida in relation to the plot. The parcels were on their way to addresses in the Republic and in follow-up operations a number of people were arrested in Galway and Monaghan.
The IRA subsequently issued a statement saying its leadership did not "sanction" the importation of arms. However, senior security sources say the IRA was responsible.
It is not clear why the IRA wanted the guns as it has a substantial arsenal. Some security sources say it might have been trying to import new weapons so it could persuade hardline elements to agree to the decommissioning of older weapons.