AT AROUND 9pm last night, two men sat in a car near a small strip of shops in the north-west Dublin suburb of Finglas.
Within moments, shots had been fired and the victim of the attack fled onto Cardiffsbridge Road where one shot struck his hand.
He is expected to make a full recovery.
This shooting is the latest violent episode in the Dublin suburb in recent years.
The man shot and injured is a very close associate of a drug criminal known as Mr Flashy, who in recent months has been fighting battles on two fronts against separate gangs who want him killed.
The injured associate had been warned previously by gardaí that his life was at risk.
Last night’s shooting was another close call for the so-called Gucci Gang – a drugs gang made up of predominantly young men, many of whom have been targeted in gun attacks and physical assaults.
Gardaí have been trying to keep a lid on the various feuds happening across the wider area over the last five years. Multiple successful drug seizures along with significant amounts of intelligence have been amassed by the force.
Elsewhere last night, a man was shot and killed as part of a separate drug crime related feud in the south-west of the city. Shots were also fired at a man in Carlow who previously survived an attempt on his life in Dublin.
One security source told this publication in the aftermath of the shooting in Finglas:
“It doesn’t matter how many of us there are – we can’t be everywhere at once.
“We will keep hassling them, keeping an eye on them but there will be times like last night where someone or something slips through the cracks and gets hurt.”
While gardaí can’t be everywhere, they have been part of very successful operations which have seen millions of euro worth of drugs seized along with significant amounts of cash.
For example, taking just the last two months into account, gardaí in Finglas have seized:
Alongside these seizures, garda intelligence teams have been keeping tabs on the gang’s movements and monitoring any meetings and new alliances, if any, that are being forged.
Gardaí are also aware of several businesses which are suspected of being used by this gang to move and launder money. Those involved in this trade have therefore become targets for the Gucci Gang’s enemies, of which there are many.
Mr Flashy himself has survived multiple attempts on his life in recent months as a result of these escalating feuds.
In April of this year, the Finglas gang war took its first life. James Whelan (29) was shot dead in the Deanstown Avenue area of Finglas.
Whelan, who had previously been named in court as a member of an organised crime gang, had over 50 convictions, many of them for drug and gangland-related offences.
James Whelan, who had been friends at one point with Mr Flashy, had fallen out with him over his drug businesses and went out on his own, creating his own gang which then started tit-for-tat attacks on the Gucci Gang.
Another feud directly linked to Flashy is that with associates of a man called Shane Fowler. In 2018, Fowler died in a motorbike crash but was believed to be on the way to carry out a gangland hit on a member of the Finglas-based gang.
In another incident, two months after the murder of James Whelan, Flashy and his associates were travelling in a taxi which was then run off the road by a group of armed men.
Shots were fired but nobody was injured in the incident. Two men have since been arrested in relation to this crime.
Gardaí believe yesterday’s attack on a close associate of Flashy’s will result in some form of reprisals, owing to the closeness between the injured man and the gang boss.
As a result, gardaí are carrying out active patrols around locations where members of the Gucci Gang and rival gangs tend to frequent.
Other ongoing investigations into the gangs will continue, sources stressed to this publication. However, some of the resources afforded to these operations will be diverted to quell any act of retaliatory violence over the coming days.
Meanwhile, such is his fear of attack, sources say Flashy does not leave his home without some form of protection, be that a bodyguard or a bulletproof vest.
The ways in which he is attempting to protect himself have not gone unnoticed by gardaí. He changes cars regularly and frequently changes where he sleeps.
Anyone with information is asked to contact their local Garda Station or at the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111.
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