GARDA COUP IN DRUG WAR By Stephen Rae and Michael Lavery

A third supergrass is set to blow the lid off the multi-million pound drug
empire believed to be controlled by John Gilligan.

An ex-drug dealer joins Charlie Bowden and Russell Warren in the State's
expensive Witness Protection Programme.

The man, who acted as a lorry driver bringing shipments of cannabis to
Dublin, was recruited by gardai after an underworld figure put a price on
his head.

He is now under 24-hour armed Garda protection over fears for his life.

Although he operated in the south of the country, mainly in the Cork area,
there is no evidence where he is being kept under armed Garda protection.

John Gilligan, currently fighting extradition from Britain on charges of
murdering journalist Veronica Guerin, is alleged by gardai to be the
mastermind behind the Sate's biggest cannabis smuggling operation.

Garda sources said their new "supergrass" was prepared to give evidence
against Gilligan.

He was able to fill in details over a three-year period of how multi-million
pound drug shipments were brought from Holland through Cork port and then
transferred to Dublin by truck, they said.

Unlike Bowden and Warren, the third supergrass is a free man but living in a
safe house guarded by members of the elite Garda Emergency Response Unit.

Ex-soldier Bowden gave evidence in the recent trial of Paul Ward and was
escorted into court while Garda marksmen kept watch on the court roof.

Gardai have taken strict security measures to protect the lives of their
supergrass informers.

Bowden was given special food in prison to avoid the risk of poisoning and
wore a bulletproof vest on his way into court.