GARDAÍ ARRESTED TWO men and seized a loaded gun yesterday evening following an investigation by the Garda National Drugs & Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB).

Gardaí said the gun was a sawn-off shotgun. The two men arrested as part of the search operation, which happened at 7.30pm last night, were aged 41 and 22.

The vehicle they were travelling in was stopped by an emergency response unit on the Ballyowen Road, Lucan, Dublin. Following a search of the vehicle and its occupants, a loaded sawn-off shotgun was seized.

The men are being held in Ronanstown Garda station under the provisions of Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act, 1939.

Speaking about the arrests, Assistant Commissioner John O’Driscoll, head of organised and serious crime within the Garda Síochána said: “This was another successful operation undertaken by the Garda National Drugs & Organised Crime Bureau, assisted by other units, including the Special Crime Task Force and Emergency Response Unit, which has potential to prevent threat to life or serious injury, arising from the seizure of a loaded firearm”.

Yesterday’s arrests are part of an ongoing intelligence-led investigation carried out by the Garda National Drugs & Organised Crime Bureau and supported by the Special Crime Task Force.

The investigation involves the targeting of organised crime activity in the Dublin Metropolitan Region.