Garda Robbie Peelo
Gardaí in Dundalk are living in fear that they could be murdered like their colleague Detective Adrian Donohoe, according to a report in today’s Irish Sun.
In an interview with Stephen Breen, Garda Robbie Peelo has revealed that the 120 guards at Dundalk station have been left devastated by the killing of their colleague at Lordship Credit Union in January.
Garda Peelo also revealed that six major criminal gangs are now operating along the Border, three serious dissident mobs are based in the area and said that fuel laundering is now the main earner for gangsters in the area.
Garda Peelo, who has been based in Dundalk for 17 years, told The Sun: “Adrian is the first thing that’s in your head straight away — it’s there. The people who killed him are still out there and that’s the natural reaction.
“There is a fear constantly — you can hear it in members’ voices when they are answering calls.
“Ten days after Adrian’s murder there was a panic alarm in the Credit Union in Dundalk and we were looking for armed cover but the Regional Support Unit were in Ballyshannon. Officers are responding to panic alarms, to robberies and to reports of intruders but there is no second car for back-up.
“If we’re lucky maybe we can get a car from the drugs unit but these lads aren’t armed.
“What happened to Adrian is foremost in our thoughts — how can we formulate what his wife Caroline and family are going through?”
Gda Peelo, who has invited Justice Minister Alan Shatter to join his colleagues on patrol, warned that dissidents were getting a “free rein” along the Border.
He said: “On the rare occasions we have a patrol car on the Border, you are taking your life in your hands. The dissidents have a free rein because we are not there.
“We were out for the first time in ten days last week and within a half hour we came across 26,000 litres of mixing agent for oil laundering.
“When the PSNI are out, they often have five or six cars with heavily armed officers — but we are on the far side in a Ford Focus.
“If people drive through an armed checkpoint in the North, what are they willing to do to us? When a truck comes behind you it’s not a case of trying to stop them — you get out of the way.
“These gangs know of our limitations — what we need are members on the ground.”
Gda Peelo told how the PSNI has upped its policing levels. He added: “But they’re not being matched on this side of the Border because we don’t have the resources.” The investigator also said his colleagues were more determined than ever to nail Adrian’s killers.
He said: “We will never give up. If these people killed a guard in cold blood — what would they do to their own gang members? People should come to us.”
Gda Peelo revealed the number one crime in the Border is fuel smuggling, followed by burglaries. At times, travelling criminals using high-powered cars are committing 12 thefts in one afternoon before fleeing.
Other major crimes include stolen car scams, cigarette smuggling and drugs.
Source: Warning – Adrian killers could murder another cop (The Irish Sun)
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