JIM CUSACK – 04 August 2013 A BITTER feud has broken out between mainly Northern-based dissident republicans and their former associates in Dublin over drugs and smuggled cigarette money.
Gardai now fear a bloodbath between the two heavily armed factions – who both have access to deadly explosives, missiles and assault rifles. The feuding was sparked by an attempted murder in north Dublin last weekend. This came just hours after three Russian-manufactured assault rifles were seized by gardai in the south of the city. Gardai recovered three AK-47 assault rifles along with six full magazines, a handgun and several hundred rounds of ammunition in an apartment in the Coombe area. No arrests were made.
The seizure came shortly before an attempt was made to murder a former close associate of the Dublin 'Real' IRA figure Alan Ryan, who was himself assassinated as part of a feud with a north Dublin drugs gang last September.
The feuding stems from growing anger among so-called dissident republican prisoners in Portlaoise and in jails in Northern Ireland over revelations at the extent of the earnings among the mainly Dublin-based 'republicans' from the drugs and smuggled cigarette trade.
It recently emerged that one of the dissidents' main "finance officers" was closely associated with major criminal figures and was importing millions of euro worth of drugs, including heroin, and cigarettes.
This man, who was recently jailed for possession of a substantial quantity of drugs, had become a major heroin trafficker and had been living in Co Wicklow and living a playboy lifestyle.
