GARDAÍ SEIZED A gun and arrested three men in the Coolock area of North Dublin yesterday after stopping and searching a car. 

At around 9.30pm, gardaí from the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau, assisted by gardaí in Security and Intelligence, stopped a vehicle on Oscar Traynor Road in Dublin 5. 

A semi-automatic pistol and ammunition were seized and three men aged 53, 24 and 23 were arrested. 

They are currently being detained at Ballymun and Coolock garda stations. 

Assistant Commissioner john O’Driscoll of Special Crime Operations said the “arrest of suspects and the seizure of a firearm by the GNDOCB, following the seizure of a large quantity of drugs on Tuesday and a significant quantity of cash a number of days earlier, reflects… unrelenting efforts to effectively tackle organised crime. 

Gardaí have stepped up patrols in the area following ongoing organised crime raids in the area. 

Over the summer months, gardaí stepped up their fight against gangland crime, carrying out a series of raids in the north of the city and its suburbs, including Coolock as part of an intensifying crackdown on notorious drugs gangs.

In July, two men in their thirties were also arrested and gardaí seized two guns in an overnight search in the Coolock area.