THIS IS the lethal cache of 9mm ammunition found beside a crowded bus stop this week.
Gardei believe that a gangland assassination could have been prevented after an eagle-eyed member of the public came - across a paper bag containing 100 rands of ammo for a Luger semi-automatic pistol.
Detectives have launched a major investigation after the live rounds were found last Thursday morning. Detectives believe that the bullets could have been in the process of being transported to a local criminal gang when the courier was unexpectedly disturbed on the Jamestown Road, in Finglas, Dublin. Officers immediately moved to seal off the area in a bid to find the Luger pistol and have described the find as "highly significant". They are currently trawling CCTV to see if they can identify the criminal who was carrying the dangerous haul. The bullets, which were inside a brown paper bag with writing on it, had then been placed inside a white paper bag.
They were found on top of a small wall behind a busy bus stop. One theory being ang hit found at bus stop examined is that the courier was walking down the road and may have seen a pass-ing patrol car and panicked, placing the bag on the wall. Once the coast was clear he planned to return to pick up the parcel, but it had already been spotted by an innocent member of the public who had been wait-ing to get a bus into the city centre. Stashed It is thought that less than 10 minutes had passed between the bullets being stashed and found by the man. The member of the public contacted the Sunday World to tell of his find and said he wanted to highlight how dangerous that Finglas has become.
He said he feared that young children could have picked up the bullets and that a serious accident could have happened. He was especially concerned that a courier could transport bullets in broad daylight when there were scores of peo-ple around. The man requested that we hand in the bullets to gardai and we immediately con-tacted Finglas station, who collected the ammunition. The haul is now being forensically examined to see if there are any traces of fingerprints or DNA. The man who found the ammunition said he was relieved that lives had been saved and said that if an unscrupulous person had came upon the bullets he could have sold them on the streets for at least £10 a pop.
The Luger 9mm pistol has become increasingly popular in gangland in recent years and has been used in sev-eral high-profile shootings. Shot Innocent young mum Donna Cleary was shot dead with a Luger in 2006, while senior Finglas criminal John Mangan was found with a loaded Luger down his trousers in a pub in Santry in 2007. The Luger 9mm is especially popular among the Limerick gangs, with gardai having seized a munber of such weapons over the last decade. Finglas is one of the busiest areas for gardai in the country and there have been several gangland hits there in recent years. In February 2312, 36-year-old Alan McNally was gunned down in a pub in Finglas village.
In July 2010, Calm Owens was gunned down in an industri-al estate by the Real IRA. In February of the same year cousins Mark Noonan and Glenn Murphy were killed in a double assassination at a serv-ice station by the Real IRA in a case of mistaken identity. In October 2039, 42-year-old David Thomas was murdered outside another pub in the village. Some of the most serious criminals in recent times have been from Finglas or operated there, including Eamon 'the Don' Dunne and Martin 'Mario' Hyland.
