GARDAÍ HAVE INTERVENED to prevent 64 planned hits by organised crime gangs since the Regency Hotel shooting in 2016.

Today Assistant Commission John O’Driscoll gave an update on the work of the Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau to crack down on these gangs.

The update came after the sentencing of three men who planned to kill Patrick ‘Patsy’ Hutch and the sentencing of two men who conspired to assassinate Dublin man Gary Hanley.

O’Driscoll said the outcomes delivered by the courts today show some of the results of the work done by the bureau in tackling organised crime.

He also released new figures which show the bureau has seized more than 100 firearms, €158 million worth of illicit drugs and €9.8 million in cash since March 2015.

In the first six months of this year, there were 133 arrests in relation to organised crime.

Assistant Commissioner O’Driscoll said it was particularly significant that gardaí have seized firearms that were in the possession of people “who it is alleged were about to use them to murder”.

Since the Regency Hotel shooting in 2016, gardaí have conducted 64 operations in which they were confident that planned shootings were imminent and officers intervened to prevent them.

O’Driscoll said gardaí will continue to be “unrelenting in our pursuit of those who decide to engage in organised crime”.