Cocaine Wars (35 page)

Christopher McDonagh's fate might have been sealed on 31 July 2006, when members of the OCU, led by Detective Superintendent Dominic Hayes, stopped two cars at Browns Barn near Tallaght. One of the vehicles contained 350 kg of cannabis resin – the haul had a street value of €2.7 million Four men were detained at the scene and ‘Git' McDonagh was arrested later in Terenure. As is commonplace, several criminal gangs had clubbed together to buy the cannabis shipment. Among those involved in the deal was the Thompson gang, the mob led by Karl Breen and the gang that had once been led by ‘Marlo' Hyland in Finglas. McDonagh was told to drive out to Dublin 22 to act as a scout around the area and to make sure that no Gardaí were around carrying out surveillance. The drugs run was so secretive that McDonagh was only told a short time before where the drop was going to take place. Twenty minutes after he was told, the Gardaí moved in and arrested the five men. Luckily – or unluckily – for McDonagh, he was not near the location of the drugs bust when he was lifted, so he was released without charge. The fact that McDonagh escaped prosecution, when three of the other four men were charged, coupled with the fact that the arrests had taken place just minutes after he had been told where the drugs delivery was taking place, obviously led the criminals behind the shipment to put two and two together and declare that he was a Garda informant. McDonagh swore that he was not a ‘tout' but his pleas fell on deaf ears. The drugs syndicate would obviously want a scapegoat for the Browns Barn seizure and he was going to be it. After the seizure, McDonagh told several Gardaí that he knew he was being blamed for the captured haul and would be shot because of it. McDonagh was never a Garda informant and was not in fact the source of the information received by officers on the day of the bust. Following the seizure, McDonagh concentrated on his used car business and stayed away from dealing drugs. Because he knew his life was under threat, he was ducking and diving and making sure that he did all he could to remain alive. He stopped associating with gangs and probably thought that he had escaped vengeance, as over two years had passed since the Browns Barn seizure. However, two years later his past caught up with him, and revenge, when it came, was ice cold.

Despite not being an informant, ‘Git' McDonagh had been a marked man since the day he avoided the drugs rap. The fact that he had only received a suspended sentence after he was found guilty of possession of a firearm didn't help his reputation as a supposed ‘tout'. The fact is that several people wanted him dead and there were several gangs in the frame for the murder. McDonagh had been close enough to Freddie Thompson, but detectives favoured the gang that had been led by Karl Breen prior to his jailing as the most likely to have taken McDonagh out. One of the members of the Breen gang, 36-year-old Michael Hendrick, was arrested by Gardaí on suspicion of withholding information in relation to McDonagh's murder but was released without charge. Then Michael Hendrick was murdered in February 2009, as part of an internal gang dispute.

Superintendent Pat Clavin led the investigation into McDonagh's murder, assisted by DI Richard McDonnell and his staff at Ronanstown Garda Station. The officers received a break when the CCTV camera installed at McDonagh's home captured images of the two gunmen. Because the shooting took place at night, the pictures were not very clear, but when officers studied the evidence, they were all in agreement that the stills looked incredibly like Freddie Thompson, although the shooter had been wearing a balaclava. A man who was the same height and weight as Thompson was identifiable, although the images were not strong enough to bring any charges. Gardaí from Crumlin called to Ronanstown Garda Station to offer a second opinion, and they too were in agreement that the stills looked uncannily like Thompson. Detectives in the ‘G' District had initially been very sceptical when Freddie Thompson's gang had been mentioned as being possibly involved in the murder. Thompson had been involved in the group purchase of the seized drugs, but his exposure had been less than other criminals, so it was thought that he just simply moved on and got over it. The Browns Barn incident was hardly the first time that his drugs had been seized by Gardaí. ‘Touts' were then leaned on for information and several people came back to say that the Thompson gang – although maybe not Freddie himself – may have in fact carried out the murder because they owed money to another gang because of another Garda seizure. Murdering McDonagh was a way of significantly reducing the debt.

The investigation into McDonagh's murder is still very much open, and Gardaí called in the technical experts to help them catch his killer. They used a UK firm to try to enhance the CCTV images. The system used by this company is tried and tested by British police forces, and has proved successful in UK court cases, but has yet to be tested before the Irish judiciary. The system can measure the facial features of the killer, the length of his nose and ears, for example, or the distance from his nose to his chin. This information can then be cross-referenced against any suspects in the case, and if it does not confirm the identity of the person caught on camera, it will at least eliminate possible suspects. In mid-2010 the Gardaí received a hammer blow when the UK firm informed them that the state-of-the-art technology could not determine whether the man who escaped from the murder scene was in fact Freddie Thompson. Although the CCTV footage was good, it was simply not of sufficient quality to either implicate or clear Thompson. Detectives were bitterly disappointed but not greatly surprised. They always believed it would be good old-fashioned police work that would lead them to McDonagh's killer. Unfortunately, because of the length of time that has passed since Git was gunned down, it now seems unlikely that his murderer will ever be brought to justice unless somebody comes forward with new information.

Gardaí policing the day-to-day feud made a very interesting discovery on 29 September 2008, when they raided a luxury apartment in Foxrock after receiving a tip-off that it was being used to store drugs. The detectives from Crumlin and Sundrive Road Garda Stations found quantities of cocaine, cannabis and a weighing scales, as well as documentation about a property that was being rented in the Castleknock area. The registered renter of the apartment in Foxrock was a twenty-nine-year-old from Rathfarnham, who went by three different aliases. He was a known member of the Thompson gang, and Gardaí believed that he was the frontman used to rent properties on behalf of the gang. The apartment in Foxrock cost €2,800 a month to rent, and investigations led Gardaí to discover that this individual had rented, using three different aliases and false documentation, at least sixteen apartments throughout South Dublin. It was in these apartments that the criminals, whose names had been accidentally leaked in the Garda intelligence bulletin, had stayed in. A number of properties were raided, but all Gardaí found were empty spaces with no personal belongings, except, in almost every case, two bin liners full of top of the range Gucci, Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger clothes. The criminals were obviously well prepared if they had to make a quick getaway for any reason. They would simply abandon the apartments after spending a few weeks there and walk away. This was despite the fact that six months' rent had often been paid in cash to the landlord up front. The only thing that would even have given a hint that they had ever been occupied was the mountains of takeaway cartons and empty pizza boxes stacked in the kitchens. After searching the address in Castleknock, Gardaí found 2 kg of cocaine worth about €100,000, as well as weighing scales. The only other item found on the premises was a pair of size four shoes, the size worn by the frontman. He was an elusive, dapper sort. Although he had tiny feet, his mouth was big and his silver tongue was well able to fool landlords into thinking he was a businessman and not a gangster. The man was subsequently charged with possession of the cocaine. He is currently before the courts, so cannot be named for legal reasons.

On 9 October, a twenty-five-year-old received serious stab injuries to his face, hand, head and stomach in an alleyway off Ave Maria Avenue in Maryland, after being attacked by Thompson. The victim was singled out by Thompson and his mob because he (Thompson) was frustrated that Gardaí had been seizing too many drugs belonging to his gang. The man was associating with senior members of the Thompson gang, including David Byrne, Freddie Thompson's cousin. The man is believed to have owed Freddie a sum of money. He was rushed to hospital but refused to co-operate with Gardaí and would not make a statement. He suffered scarring as a result of the attack. Freddie Thompson was arrested close to the scene, along with Liam Brannigan and another man, but they were released without charge.

Six days later, Gardaí from the OCU searched a house on Windmill Crescent in Crumlin after securing a search warrant and located a Glock 9mm handgun concealed in an air vent and a further 250 rounds of ammunition for the gun, which were found hidden in the attic. Three members of the Rattigan gang, aged twenty-six, nineteen and seventeen were arrested, but nobody was charged because the gun was not actually in their possession. The twenty-six-year-old was caught a few weeks later by the Crumlin Drugs Unit, with a large quantity of drugs, and is currently before the courts. The rest of 2008 was relatively quiet and the feud settled down until St Stephen's Day, when Gardaí were called to the Marble Arch pub on Davitt Road in Drimnagh. When they arrived they saw a man lying unconscious in a side storage area of the pub. The twenty-one-year-old had suffered serious stab wounds, and a trail of blood led from the pub's smoking area to the storage room. The victim had suffered a stab wound to his upper left thigh. He had been attacked for no apparent reason. One of the next generation of criminals, who has links to Freddie Thompson, was responsible, but the injured party knew the type of individual he was dealing with, and decided not to make a complaint to Gardaí.

On 4 January 2009, Joey O'Brien, who had a habit of getting into trouble with the Thompson gang, walked into Charlie's Chinese fast food shop on Dame Street. He was followed in by five of the main young players in the Thompson mob. ‘Mad Dog' started to abuse O'Brien, who was a very handy boxer. Words were exchanged and a nineteen-year-old from Crumlin walked over and caught O'Brien with a sucker punch to the side of the head, knocking him unconscious. While O'Brien lay helpless on the ground, ‘Mad Dog' started to repeatedly jump on his head. He had to be physically pulled off the injured man. Another nineteen-year-old from Crumlin then hopped on O'Brien's head before the five left the restaurant. Somebody immediately called 999, and Gardaí from nearby Pearse Street rushed to the scene. They observed three men running from the restaurant in the direction of the Lord Edward pub, near Dublin Castle. The Gardaí who arrived at the scene recognised the men, because of their growing notoriety across the city, and were able to give a description, so Gardaí operating the CCTV cameras at Pearse Street were able to follow their every move. Two of the men got into a taxi, which was stopped on Dame Street. A bloodstained hammer was recovered on one of them.

A file was sent to the DPP in relation to the incident but nobody was ever charged, because witnesses were reluctant to give statements identifying the men who assaulted O'Brien, and O'Brien refused to give a statement to detectives naming the men who had viciously beaten him. The sad reality of the Crumlin/Drimnagh feud is that unless Gardaí actually witness assaults for themselves, it is unlikely that such violent incidents will ever make it to court. The stigma attached to cooperating with the authorities invariably means that victims keep their mouths shut and the perpetrators escape scot free.

On the same night as the vicious attack on Dame Street, a member of the public rang Gardaí and said that he had observed a man getting out of a jeep near the Halfway House pub in Walkinstown, and fire three or four shots at a black BMW. The BMW did a U-turn at high speed and drove towards the Walkinstown roundabout. The gunman jumped back into the jeep and turned left onto the Long Mile Road. The witness saw four men in the jeep and the gunman was described as wearing a baseball cap and grey tracksuit. No broken glass or bullet shells were found at the scene. Gardaí believe that a pellet gun may have been used. A twenty-seven-year-old from Walkinstown, who is a close associate of Freddie Thompson, was detained nearby along with a twenty-two-year-old. Gardaí were forced to release the two men due to a lack of evidence.

In early 2009, a series of bomb warnings were phoned in to Gardaí, which necessitated the deployment of the army bomb squad to Crumlin and Drimnagh, to deal with the suspect devices. In the first four months of the year, thirty-two calls were received. Only two devices were found to be viable. Gardaí believe that the gangs were trying to tie up as much Garda resources as possible, so that they could operate with fewer restrictions. The first hoax call came on 16 January 2009, when ‘Fat' Freddie and his cronies were dining at Tiffany's café on the Crumlin Road. Gardaí received a 999 call that a bomb had been placed at the café. Sure enough, it was searched and nothing was found. Thompson and his men waved at Gardaí who came to investigate and were obviously aware of the fake call. The criminals had seen how seriously Gardaí took bomb warnings and thought it was hilarious that so much time and resources were being given to every little false warning, so they kept on phoning false reports in. The feuding thugs had also heard that Pringles tubes were often used to hold pipe bombs, so as part of their sick humour, they would get an empty Pringles tube and stick wires out of it. Then they would watch while army bomb disposal experts examined the device, often using robots to check for explosives. At one stage an eleven-year-old was arrested for carrying a fake Pringles pipe bomb. The youth was dealt with under the youth cautioning system. Several high-profile members of the feuding gangs were targeted in pipe bomb attacks. On 18 February, a bomb was found under a car belonging to the innocent mother of Freddie Thompson's cousin and key ally, David Byrne. Luckily it didn't explode.