GARDA SUSPECT DRUG LINK IN LOUTH KILLING

The man whose body was found dumped south of the Border in Co Louth
yesterday is believed by the Garda to have been killed by members of a major
drugs gang with republican paramilitary connections in the Border area.

The man is understood to have been suspected by the gang of having given the
Garda National Drug Bureau information which led to a number of significant
seizures of amphetamines and cocaine in the Meath-Kildare area in recent
months.

The seizures were among the most significant made in the past two years by
gardai.

It is understood the man came under suspicion by other gang members in the
past two weeks. He was kidnapped and is believed to have been tortured
before being shot dead and dumped at the Border. There were knife marks to
the upper body and gardai could not say in advance of the postmortem if a
gun had been used.

Earlier yesterday there had been suspicion that the man had been kidnapped
and murdered by one of the breakaway republican groups in the Border who
have also been hit by Garda successes.

However, according to sources last night, it appeared to have been
established that the man had links with a cross-Border drugs gang which has
links to criminals in the Netherlands and to Provisional IRA figures in the
Border area.

It is believed the republican paramilitaries, who have experience in
torturing and securing "confessions" from suspected informants may have been
holding the man in the north Louth area in recent days.

The deputy state pathologist, Dr Marie Cassidy, was last night carrying out
a post mortem on the man, whose identity was being withheld.

The man, who is aged about 30, was found concealed in a dry ditch on the
side of a remote country road at Roskeogh, Kilcurry, about 200 metres from
the Border at around noon yesterday. The body was partially clothed and
tightly wrapped in heavy grey plastic. Gardai believe the man was killed
elsewhere between 24 and 36 hours earlier.