Gardaí were last night questioning two men, believed to be members of a major gang of armed robbers, after detectives foiled a raid on a post office in Dublin yesterday morning.
A large team of armed gardaí moved into place around the post office on Fassaugh Avenue, Cabra, to wait for the intending robbers after a member of staff raised the alarm on noticing that a chain securing the back gate of the premises had been cut overnight.
Staff were told by gardaí to delay opening the premises by 45 minutes until 10am. This allowed officers time to take up position in the back of the post office and in unmarked Garda cars and vans in surrounding streets.
The gang struck shortly after 10.30am when two of them gained access to the back yard of the post office. They slammed an iron girder they were carrying into a door at the back of the premises in an effort to gain entry.
Nearby residents yesterday said the noise was so loud they thought a bomb had exploded. "The house literally shook," said one man. Customers in the post office, many of whom were collecting their pensions, ran in to nearby houses.
On hearing the bang, the gardaí immediately came out the back of the post office. The raiders ran out of the yard and in to a lane and ran through gardens which backed on to it.
One man was caught and arrested by pursuing officers. However, the other man escaped by running across Liscannor Road and on to Kilkieran Road.
Meanwhile, gardaí at the front of the premises arrested a man on Fassaugh Avenue. He was driving a Dublin-registered pick-up truck, which he owns, with a damaged silver Louth-registered 4x4 on the back.
The man had blocked Fassaugh Avenue with his truck, feigning a motor breakdown.
Garda sources said they believed he was doing this in order to cause congestion to frustrate any Garda chase.
This man is one of two brothers from Finglas west whom gardaí believe have been behind a series of raids on cash-in-transit vans in Dublin in the last two years. They are believed to have stolen up to €2 million in these attacks.
The other man arrested is also well known to gardaí in Dublin. He is a 25-year-old from Finglas with a history of involvement in armed crime.
Gardaí searching for the man who escaped have drawn up a shortlist of members of the criminal fraternity in Finglas.
Detectives believe at least one of the men involved in yesterday's highly organised attack was armed. However, no firearms were recovered during the operation.
A number of cars parked around the area were seized by gardaí and a house in Cabra was also searched.
The two men who ran from the back of the post office discarded gloves and balaclavas, which were retrieved by gardaí. These were being forensically analysed last night.
Yesterday's operation involved a large number of gardaí from the Emergency Response Unit and the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation's organised crime unit.
Members of the Garda Dog Unit were also involved as was the Garda helicopter and gardaí from Cabra and nearby Garda stations.
The two men arrested were being detained under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act at Cabra and Blanchardstown Garda stations. They can be held for 72 hours without charge.
