GARDAÍ INVESTIGATING the murder of Shane Geoghegan in Limerick and gangland feuding in the city have raided more than 20 addresses in Limerick, Dublin and Cork.
The co-ordinated series of raids began before first light yesterday and involved members of a number of specialist units, including the Emergency Response Unit, National Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the Garda helicopter.
The main focus of the operation was in Limerick city where houses were searched in a number of areas including Ballinacurra Weston, where the main suspects for last weekend's murder live.
Garda sources said they were searching for firearms, drugs and other items of evidential value.
Detectives investigating the killing were also looking for mobile phones in the hope that analysis of their call history might offer clues as to how Mr Geoghegan's killing was organised.
In Co Cork, the search centred at Cobh where gardaí believe a member of Limerick's McCarthy-Dundon gang has been living. The man is a well-known criminal originally from the Southill estate.
He was not at the Cobh address when gardaí called. However, a number of mobile phones were taken away for analysis.
The raids in Dublin were targeted against criminals whom gardaí believe have been working closely with Limerick gangs in the sourcing and distribution of drugs and firearms. Searches were conducted in the north inner city and in north and west Dublin.
Gardaí believe both sides of the Limerick feud have close links to criminals in Finglas. However, there is no firm evidence to suggest anybody from outside Limerick was involved in Mr Geoghegan's murder.
"The guys in Limerick would have been expecting us to carry out searches so we weren't all that hopeful of finding very much," said one Garda source. "But it is about keeping the pressure on them and inching things to the point where we get a breakthrough."
Mr Geoghegan (28) was returning home from watching the Ireland-Canada rugby game at a friend's house in the Kilteragh estate, Dooradoyle, just after 1.30am last Sunday when he was shot dead.
Gardaí believe he was killed by a gunman who mistook him for a member of the Keane-Collopy drugs gang. Detectives are working on the theory that the rival McCarthy-Dundon gang was responsible for the murder.
