Spanish police are investigating the murder of well-known Irish drug dealer and suspected killer Paddy Doyle in a gun attack in southern Spain yesterday afternoon.
Two other Irish men, Freddie Thompson and Gary Hutch, both from Dublin, were also travelling with Doyle when their BMW 4X4 vehicle was ambushed near Marbella.
Hutch was driving and was injured, while Thompson, who was sitting on the back seat, was reportedly uninjured.
The dead man, Paddy Doyle, with an address at Portland Place, Dublin 1, was regarded by gardaí as a significant drugs dealer. He was in his late 20s and was a member of one of two drugs gangs based in Crumlin and Drimnagh whose feud has claimed 10 lives since 2001. Doyle was suspected of involvement in at least one of those killings.
Gardaí believe criminals involved in the feud were behind the attempted murder of Martin Foley, also known as the Viper, outside a gym in Kimmage, south Dublin, last Saturday week.
Doyle was gunned down yesterday at 1pm Irish time shortly after he had left a gym. The three men were driving in a 4X4 vehicle in Cancelada, near Marbella, on the Costa Del Sol, when the occupant of another car pulled up alongside and opened fire.
At least five shots hit the BMW carrying the Irish men. Four went through the windscreen and two went through the passenger door. Hutch lost control and the vehicle hit a lamp post on the side of the road, coming to a standstill. Doyle got out of the car and tried to run.
However, according to eyewitness reports, the gunman opened fire again and fatally wounded Doyle twice in the head.
Doyle was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after the attack at 2pm local time.
The driver, Hutch, is a 27-year-old convicted robber and nephew of Gerry Hutch, also known as the Monk. He has served a number of prison terms and was cleared of shooting a man last year after the victim withdrew his statement.
Thompson is a 27-year-old from Drimnagh, Dublin, who in 2006 was charged in the Netherlands with possession of cocaine valued at almost €600,000 and six handguns. However, he was never convicted.
A Garda source in Dublin told The Irish Timesthat Doyle had been one of the main players in the Drimnagh-Crumlin feud and was a suspect in cash-in-transit robberies.
They believe he, and not the other two men, was the target of yesterday's attack.
He was suspected of involvement in a feud-related killing in November 2005. On that occasion 27-year-old Noel Roche was shot dead as he sat in a car in traffic outside the Yacht Pub in Clontarf, Dublin.
Senior Garda sources said it was impossible to say if Doyle's killing was linked to the Crumlin-Drimnagh feud. However, the same sources said Doyle's rivals in Dublin would know his movements in Spain and would "be motivated enough" to target him in Spain.
"But you'd have to ask if they had the capability of carrying out an attack like that far from home. You couldn't rule out a row with foreign criminals based in Spain," said one reliable source.
Gardaí have no active involvement in the murder investigation. However, a Garda liaison officer based in Madrid will track progress in the case and will assist with information from Ireland if Spanish police request help.
The dead man's relatives were informed yesterday and the Department of Foreign Affairs was offering them assistance.
