GARDAÍ INVESTIGATING AN ongoing feud in Drogheda have arrested three men this afternoon. 

Following the discovery of a burnt out car by gardaí investigating as part of Operation Stratus, three men were arrested for criminal damage. 

One man is being detained in Drogheda Garda Station. The other two are being held at Dundalk Garda Station.

The feud in Drogheda has been ongoing since last summer. There have been 74 feud incidents since June last year and in the last week there have been five petrol bomb attacks. A man was also shot last month as part of the ongoing violence. 

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said last week that 25 new recruits from the training college in Templemore will be sent to Drogheda in June as part of a crackdown on the gang feud.

Gardaí have said that a number of incidents have been reported since Operations Stratus launched, including firearms offences, possession of drugs, petrol bomb incidents, criminal damage offences and general road traffic offences.

Gardaí also said that, to date, the operation has resulted in:

Four people appearing before the courts on false imprisonment charges. 

Four people arrested in connection with attempted murder in February. 

The recovery of firearms at different times; the seizure of drugs; €270,000 in cash seized.

Gardaí said that 319 proactive searches have been carried out along with 870 Armed Support Unit / Roads Policing checkpoints and 1,253 proactive uniform & plainclothes patrols.

With reporting from Cormac Fitzgerald