GARDAI SEIZE ASSAULT RIFLES IN SLANE
A 39-year-old man is being detained by Gardaí in Drogheda after the discovery of weapons in a car in Slane yesterday.
Three assault rifles – which its thought may have been used in the Regency Hotel shooting of David Byrne – were seized by detectives when the vehicle was stopped while travelling northbound on the N2.
The man who was arrested is being held under the Offences Against the State Act.
The discovery of the AK47s came after a series of raids by the Criminal Assets Bureau in a crackdown on money laundering by criminal gangs in Dublin yesterday.
29 luxury cars, six motorbikes, around 300,000 euro worth of cash and jewellery was seized.
Investigations editor with the Sunday World, Nicola Tallant, says the weapons seizure is a major breakthrough in the David Byrne murder inquiry.
“The weapons are believed to have been on loan from north of the border, so possibly they were on their way back up” she said.
“Obviously the guns are going to have to go through ballistics tests and all the rest – but they are quite satisfied they are the guns used in The Regency (shooting)”.
“It’s a big development in that investigation – the biggest their has been since the shooting happened four weeks ago” she added.
