TRIO MAY HAVE BEEN MURDERED FOR INFORMING

Positive identification of the three Irishmen who are believed to have
been brutally murdered in the Netherlands may not be established for
some time, according to officials here.

One of the theories police are investigating is that the three, from
the west of Ireland, were killed by major drug-dealers who suspected
one or other of them of passing information to police about drugs shipments.

A number of major drugs shipments have been intercepted by Dutch
police and the Garda in the past two to three years, and it has been
clear for some time that the police have been acting on good "inside"
information.

One of the last major drugs shipments bound for Ireland, which was
intercepted in the Netherlands two months ago, contained a large
amount of the synthetic drugs, ecstasy and amphetamine.

According to Dutch police sources quantities of amphetamine were
discovered at the apartment in the seaside resort of Scheveningen
where the three were killed last Saturday. It is also understood
police recovered a tablet press, which was being used for
manufacturing either ecstasy or amphetamine tablets, or both.

It also appeared yesterday that the investigation into the murders is
being stepped up after behind-the-scenes diplomatic and Garda
representations. There were concerns earlier in the week that the
investigation was being given a low priority because the victims were
foreign nationals and apparently involved in the drug trade.

However, the Dutch public prosecutor in charge of the case, Ms Hannele
Ehelmans, said yesterday that 18 police officers were now involved in
the investigation and that it was being given a "very high priority".

Dutch police and the Garda are withholding confirmation of the
identities of the murdered men until the completion of DNA analysis,
fingerprint tests and dental records. They are still trying to
establish the identity of a Northern Ireland woman whose passport was
found in the apartment.

Ms Ehelmans, an officer in the public prosecutor's office in The
Hague, said yesterday identification had been impeded because of the
extent of the "mutilation" and burns on the bodies.

According to unofficial police sources the three victims were
subjected to torture, suffering broken limbs and mutilation before
being shot dead. Their bodies were then piled together in the bathroom
of the apartment, doused with a flammable liquid and set on fire.

Fears that five Irish people might have been killed in the incident
lessened yesterday when it emerged that at least one of five passports
found in the apartment was stolen.

The passport was taken in Amsterdam over a year ago from a Co Limerick
man who reported the theft to the Irish Embassy in the Netherlands
before returning to Ireland. Yesterday he visited gardai in Fermoy, Co
Cork, near where he lives, to tell them about the theft.

The Dutch police and the Garda refused yesterday to comment on the
motive for the murders.

However, it is known that at least one major Irish drug-trafficker
with links to a major Dutch criminal has lost two large consignments
of guns and drugs in the past 17 months.

The first of these was intercepted by gardai at the Border on December
23rd, 1998. Some 750 kg of cannabis and 25 handguns and machine
pistols were seized in Castleblayney in that find. There were reports
at the time that the guns were destined for the "Real IRA", which was
responsible for the Omagh bombing in August 1998.

Dutch police in Amsterdam intercepted the second consignment on March
13th last. In that seizure some 600kg of cannabis, 50kg of amphetamine
and 100,000 ecstasy tablets were recovered along with 15 firearms. The
guns found in two Amsterdam flats included an automatic rifle,
submachine guns, machine pistols and handguns.

The similarity between the two finds indicated that the same gang was
responsible, and it was clear that police in the Netherlands and in
the Republic were acting on reliable intelligence, probably from a
source close to the gang.