A failed pipe bomb attack carried by a drone is another sign that feuds between gangs in Finglas have “really worsened” in recent weeks, a crime expert has said.
Over the bank holiday, a drone crashed into a family’s home in Glenties Park and close inspection revealed it was carrying a pipe bomb.
On The Pat Kenny Show, Irish Times Crime & Security Correspondent Conor Lally said the use of a drone to transport a pipe bomb is a “new departure” for organised crime and has left Gardaí “very concerned”.
“It crashed into property owned by completely innocent people who aren’t involved in organised crime in any way,” he said.
“The target of the attack, Gardaí believe, is a very young man who is involved in one of these feuding gangs in the Finglas area.
“He lived in the general area where this drone came down - whether it was a thing that the drone was simply unable to carry the weight of this pipe bomb and was kind of struggling to transport it all the way to its intended target, we just don’t know.
“The drone does appear to have crashed and thankfully the bomb didn’t explode.”
Garda investigation after Finglas incident
Gardaí believe the gang expected the bomb would blow up when it hit the ground.
It has since been taken away by Army bomb disposal experts and Gardaí hope they will be able to trace it to someone whose work they came across before.
“Some of these pipe bombs are made by people who are involved in organised crime themselves,” Mr Lally said.
“In other cases, you will have paramilitaries, who would still have their expertise [from] way back when who will produce these pipe bombs for sale to organised crime.”
Mr Lally added that drones like the one in Finglas were a “big topic of conversation” down at the Prison Officers’ annual conference last week.
“There have been well over 100 drone flights into jails all over the country, bringing in things like phones and drugs and so on,” he said.
“So, certainly the criminal fraternity nationwide has really turned to drone technology in a big way.
“Generally, they use technology quite quickly and keep on top of it.”
Main image: A drone. Picture by: Oldmanwalking / Alamy Stock Photo
