Early in September 2010, eight men came together in a secret location in Dublin for a special meeting, all. in black jackets and black jeans. They all pulled black balaclavas over their faces — only their eyes and mouths were visible. They stared broodingly at the camera and a photographer fired off a shot of the eight of them around a table draped in blue.
The scene was similar to one that had been played out so often in the North during the Troubles when groups tried to show their strength or deliver anonymous threats. And just like before, these men had scrawled three letters on the wall to st show the world who they were — but it wasn't the IRA, UDA or UVF. Instead, the masked men had written the letters CAF behind them.
It stood for Criminal Action Force and the show of strength was to tell Ireland its newest gang was in operation. They had a simple message: We are going to take on and kill the Real IRA. Splurge For the previous year, the so-called Dublin Brigade of the Real IRA — the organisation responsible for the 1998 Omagh bombing — had been on a violent extortion splurge across Dublin. The unit, led by Donaghmede man Alan Ryan, had been visiting gangsters in the north, west and south of the city, demanding thousands of euro in exchange for their lives.
Most of their targets begrudgingly handed over the cash as they knew how strong and well-armed the Real IRA was in the capital. The RIRA had access to military-grade weapons including AK-47 assault rifles, Semtex and grenades. They also had dozens of members in Dublin alone, never mind the rest of the country.
Instead of fighting, the crimi-nals handed over a chunk of their profits from robberies, drugs and other crimes. It was a nice little earner for the Real IRA, which was regrouping and trying to gather cash to fund a renewal of violence in Northern Ireland. But all that changed in February 2010. By this stage, Ryan had extorted more than E400,000 from the criminals.
The drop in profits from middle-class Ireland abandoning cocaine because of the recession meant criminals simply couldn't afford to keep handing over cash. They decided there was only one option — they had to unite to take on the Real IRA. Many criminals try to keep relationships open with other outfits, or what gardai call Organised Crime Groups (OCGs).
A senior Garda source told The Star: Everybody thinks that OCGs never cooperate and just do their own thing. "But the reality is they will work together when it is in their interests to do so. So they'd often pool resources to buy a consignment of cocaine on the continent, for example.
Prison "You also have to remember that most of them will have been in prison at some time and will have made relationships inside." At the urging of a veteran criminal from west Dublin, gangsters from all over Dublin gathered in Co Meath in February 2010. Those present agreed to form an umbrella organisation. the Criminal Action Force.
They resolved to refuse to give cash to Ryan — but he kept up the extortion demands, personally visiting criminals. Meeting refusal. Ryan's revenge was brutal. On July 9. 2010, small-time criminal Colin 'Collie' Owens was at work at the Corn Store animal feed shop in his native Finglas. Owens was a close confidant of the veteran west Dublin gangster who suggested the criminals band together in the first place.
Just after 12.10pm, a masked gunman ran into the store, singled out Owens and blasted him six times with a senu-automatic pistol point-blank range. He died at the scene. After a few days, gardai received intelligence that the killing had been carried out by Real IRA hitman Daniel Gaynor.
Further inquiries revealed that Owens was killed because the criminals were refusing to hand over cash to Ryan. But they stayed firm and decided to send their own violent message to Ryan. Ryan was known to drink at the Players' Lounge Pub in Fairview, north Dublin, which was owned by John Stokes, father of Celtic striker Anthony. Gunman John Wilson sprayed the entrance of the pub with bullets from a pistol — injuring three innocent people.
He did not know Ryan had left the pub minutes earlier. The three innocent victims were lucky to survive but Wilson would die in October 2012 after being shot at his home in Ballyfermot. Neither Ryan nor the anti-terror gardai that were monitonng the tensions between the Real IRA and the criminals expected retaliation. .
But there was more to come. On August 14, Daniel Gaynor, the man who murdered Collie Owens, was himself targeted for death. The 28-year-old was gunned down as lie walked along a street in finglas. The gunman fired repeatedly at Gaynor as his partner stood a few feet away from him. That killer was John's brother Keith Wilson (24) — and he was subsequently jailed for life for that murder Cower Ryan's crew carried out the next killing when they gunned down Sean Winters (42) in Portmarnock. He was a major criminal and had refused to give Ryan cash.
The CAF broke cover a few days later — unveiling itself in The Star. They insisted they were prepared to kill more RIRA members. A spokesperson said: "We are a big group and have lots of guns and men. All crime gangs are with us. "We want to state categorically we'll execute any crimi- nals big or small as collaborators who act with this gang. "It is our duty to reply in the language that brings these vultures to their senses.
GUNNING FOR RIRA: The effectively CAF have a huge cache of the bomb pistols and sub-machine guns and the bullets.
"The leadership of try: extortionist gang will be held responsible for any retaliation, the consequences of such would see a reply of merciless reprisals implemented with a ruth-lessness that would do justice to Joseph Stalin. "We have warned all criminals who work with the Dublin Real IRA that they will be executed. None of our members will be extort-ed or take threats." A number of high-profile attacks followed. including the September 2011 shooting of gang -boss Michael eMicka' Kelly (30) in Clongriffin.
He refusee to pay Ryan cash but was not a CAF member. Almost 12 months later, Ryan (32) was gunned down in the Clongriffin area. It's understood he was killed on the orders of two northside criminals connected to the CM' who were angry at his extortion demands. The ramifications will be felt for years. "The Real IRA have turned Ryan Into a martyr," one top security source said.
"His funeral was massive and was a significant publicity coup for them. He was portrayed as a hero. "There is no way that the national leader-ship can let this killing go unpunished. "They will go after the criminals they believe were responsible at a time of their choosing. There is no doubt about that."
