Dublin gang behind the shipment which was intercepted by the Naval Service off the west coast last November is said to be desperate to raise the huge bill amid suspicions that the Colombians and major drugs gangs in Britain are threatening retribution.The 1.9 tonnes of cocaine had a street value estimated at €675m and was the biggest ever haul of the drug here.Gardai believe the gang intended to ship on a substantial amount of it to gangs in Britain who may have also put up substantial sums of money, putting further pressure on the Irish gang.As a result of the seizure, the gangs had to turn to the high-risk "tiger" kidnap robberies, the first on December 23 last, when the family of a director of a security firm was held and €1.2m taken, followed by the Bank of Ireland job. It also prompted a attempted kidnap and robbery in Galway last month.Gardai now believe that the gang is so desperate they may carry out further robberies in an effort to raise the missing cash.Since the seizure the gang has been putting pressure on its dealer network here in Ireland and anyone falling into debt is being threatened, beaten or shot. The cash crisis for the gang has escalated levels of violence in Dublin and sparked the feuding which has led to seven gangland deaths this year.The gang itself has been trying to expand into other gangs' "turf" in the city and this has led to the round of killings which started in January with the murders of Michael 'Roly' Cronin and James Moloney as they sat in a car in Summerhill in the north inner city on January 6.This was followed by the murder of Stephen O'Halloran, 20, in Tallaght, and of Graham Nally, 35, in Finglas within 24 hours on January 19-20. Richard Keogh, 30, was then shot in Benalmadena in Spain on January 24. On February 9 last, Michael Hendrick, 36, was murdered in Clondalkin, and three days later one of Dublin's big drug dealers, John Carroll, was shot dead as he sat in a public house in the south inner city.Hitman Michael Murray, 41, was shot dead last Tuesday in Finglas.The murder of 28-year-old Stephen Gunn, whose body was found near the airport in January, is not thought to be connected with the feuding. It is believed he was stabbed to death after a row at a party.It is the worst ever spate of gang killings in Dublin and gardai do not expect it to stop. Sources said that despite the fact that the major gang in the city has a clear advantage over other gangs, their opponents are heavily armed also and several have made it clear they are not prepared to step down and allow their territories to be taken over. The violence is most intense in Finglas, but the murder of Johnny 'Champagne' Carroll has brought the conflict into the south inner city, where some of the most vicious independent gangs live and operate.The major gang has also been employing former republicans to manufacture bombs to kill and intimidate opponents. In the past month one was planted under a car belonging to one of the major drug families in the south city. This family has a long-established history of violence and has had no challenge to its authority in years. Gardai were surprised at the attack and expect retaliation.
Further down the chain, terrible pressure is being exerted on street dealers to pay debts and many are being beaten and shot. Since late last year the level of suicides among young people at a low level in the drugs trade has surged as many become unable to bear the violence.

A rock was used to smash the front door window of the family home in Drimnagh, before the grenade was thrown into the property.The attack occurred about 20 minutes after the family had gone to bed. They had been watching television until 2am. The grenade was identified as being a lethal Yugoslav fragmentation device, which exploded with such ferocity that shards of metal riddled radiators and walls throughout the house, even reaching as far as the attic.The indentations in the walls were described as "bullet-like".Garda sources said the attack was the latest violent incident in a murderous feud between south Dublin gangs. It followed an attack on another house in Drimnagh last week in which a grandmother was shot and a baby narrowly escaped injury. There was also an attack on the home of two elderly grandparents.Garda sources said it was a miracle the four adults and two children asleep in the property were not seriously injured or killed in yesterday morning's attack.
The intended target --a suspected associate of the leader of one of the warring gangs -- was not at home.A red Fiat Punto, later found burnt out nearby, is being examined by forensics experts to see if it was used in the grenade assault.
Garda sources say innocent relatives, including parents and children of gang members, are now being seen as legitimate targets in the feuding as leaders of the factions and their henchmen protect themselves with tight security.
The south city residential enclaves of Crumlin and Drimnagh have been embroiled in a long-running feud between drugs gangs. One faction, led by drug dealer, Freddie Thompson, is at war with another gang, whose leader is behind bars but still thought to be directing his associates. They have access to guns and ammunitions, such as pipe bombs and grenades, some supplied by former dissident republicans. At least 10 lives have been claimed so far and scores more people have been injured.
Last week's cycle of violence began on Tuesday, when gunmen pulled up at a house in Knocknarea Avenue, in Drimnagh, and fired shots through the front door.
A grandmother in her 50s, who police said was an innocent bystander, was shot in the shoulder as she cradled an eight-month-old infant. She was released from St James Hospital on Friday where she was treated for her injuries. Later that night, in an undisguised act of revenge, gunmen opened fire on an elderly couple's home in The Coombe area at 11.30pm. The house of the couple -- innocent relatives of one of the gang leaders -- was shot at three times.
The next day, another gun attack followed on three suspected gang members who were in a car on Galtymore Road, Drimnagh. The intended targets managed to escape.
Gardai sought to prevent further retaliatory attacks by launching dawn raids on the feuding gangs on Thursday morning. Around 100 detectives conducted 36 searches on homes and apartments used by the gang members and their associates

100 criminals in Dublin have been told by gardai that their lives are under serious threat.Garda Headquarters has advised officers to tell the criminals they are likely to be shot. It’s an extraordinary state of affairs linked to vicious feuding between gangs in the city. Indeed the 100 criminals reffered to here are only in one part of the city - the south inner city - and one feud in particular. The 100 does not take account of criminals warned about threats to their lives in other parts of the capital.
The threats mostly arise from the ongoing feud between INLA boss Declan Duffy and drugs trafficker Fat ‘Freddie’ Thompson. Detectives believe a consortium of criminals have raised €40,000 to have Thompson eliminated. Officers also suspect that a gun and motorbike are in storage for the hit.
In an incident yesterday afternoon, gardai were called to a popular bar in south central Dublin and told two masked men had been searching for Thompson. "They were seen acting suspiciously in a white vehicle, both were wearing balaclavas. Then one got out and went into the pub," said a source today. "He simply asked, 'where's Freddie?'," the source said. In the meantime, gardai have also thwarted two attempts to get an AK47 into the city for an assassination attempt on Freddie Thompson.
Gang members linked to both Thompson and Duffy have been told to take precautions because their lives are under threat. Most are living in the Crumlin/Drimnagh areas or Tallaght. "More than 100 different people have been advised that garda intelligence has deemed that they may be shot. They have been told that criminal elements are going to have them shot," said one senior officer today. Of the 100, most are linked in one way or another to the Duffy/Thompson feud.
Others are linked to the ongoing Crumlin/Drimnagh feud, which also involves Thompson. Ten people have already been murdered as part of that feud.

The Garda Special Branch and Organised Crime Unit, both based at Harcourt Square are on a state of high alert over the feuds. Intelligence has shown that €20,000 has already been raised for the attempt on Thompson's life, with a further €20,000 to be paid over if it is successful. Detectives are also investigating reports that an armed and masked man walked into a south city centre pub yesterday looking for Thompson. Thompson is already the subject of threat from a rival south city gang unlinked to the feud with Duffy. Thompson is said to have poured two pints of lager over the brother of the leader of the other gang in an incident in a Temple Bar nightclub earlier this month. On the other side in recent times, Duffy's home has been shot up two times. two weeks ago that an attempt was made to run him down two weeks ago. The driver of an Alfa Romeo car mounted the footpath in a bid to mow down Duffy close to his home in the south inner city. He only managed to save his life when he cowered in a doorway. Duffy is the leader of the INLA in the capital and also runs a security company. He has fallen foul of a number of criminal gangs in the capital, particularly the outfit run by drugs trafficking suspect 'Fat Freddie' Thompson. Detectives believe either Thompson's gang or a group of criminals based in the south inner city were behind a shooting at Duffy's mother's house more than two weeks ago.

Ger Dundon left Limerick in the company of another young man and woman and went to Spain last week. He has been a regular visitor to the resort of Estepona on the Costa del Sol where he was known to keep company with Dublin gang figure, Paddy Doyle, who was shot dead in the resort in January. Ger Dundon received a suspended sentence for possessing drugs for supply three years ago and has no known legitimate means of income. Doyle was one of the two feuding Dublin gangs originally based in Drimnagh and was suspected of carrying out three murders in November 2005.Last month, when Ger Dundon appeared at Limerick District Court on traffic offences, he pulled up outside the courthouse in the armoured 4X4 and summoned associates, all wearing body armour, via an external PA system built into the front grille of the car. They gathered around the car door and shielded him as he made his way to the entrance.Gardai also believe the recent upsurge of violent attacks in the city was directed from prison by Dundon's brother, the notorious gang leader Wayne Dundon. The McCarthy-Dundon gang have been building up supplies of weapons and other equipment and were said in court last year to have been behind the attempt to buy 20 automatic assault rifles, RPG rockets and handguns from people they believed to be arms dealers. It was, in fact, a sting organised by gardai and British police. Two associates of the gang were imprisoned in December for their part in the plot.
According to sources in Limerick, the McCarthy Dundons became the dominant gang force in the city last year after outgunning their deadly rivals, the Keane-Collopys. Tensions in Limerick had been rising in recent months before the latest round of murders. There have been at least a dozen shootings in the city related to the feuding. The worst, before last weekend, was the incident on March 25 when a gunman armed with an assault rifle fired shots into six houses in St Mary's Park. No one was injured but one bullet narrowly missed the head of an elderly woman sitting in her front living room watching television.At least half of the shooting incidents in the past two months have taken place in the tiny Island enclave of St Mary's Park, St Ita's Street and St Munchin's Street, directed at members of the Keane-Collopy family.Intelligence had already led gardai to strengthen their presence in the city by sending the Emergency Response Unit (ERU) from Dublin. The "less-than-lethal" Taser weapon was put at the disposal of the ERU two months ago after a recommendation by the Garda Inspector, former Boston police commissioner, Kathleen O'Toole.
After last weekend, the head of the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Detective Chief Superintendent Noel White, effectively moved his headquarters from Harcourt Square in Dublin to Limerick to direct investigations.
The first murder attempt was on an 18-year-old in the city centre on January 14. A female relative of Noel Campion from Moyross, who was assassinated two years ago, was fired on two weeks later. At the end of March there were a succession of attacks on homes in the Island area where members of the Keane-Collopy clan live.
The first incident last weekend appears to be retaliation for the attacks in the Island. Gardai believe that the gangs decided to take advantage of the fact that Munster was playing Gloucester last Saturday in the Heineken European rugby cup and that many gardai would be taking the day off to enjoy the match.
At around 6am on Saturday a rock was thrown through the window of a house in O'Malley Park. The gunman then burst into the house firing an automatic handgun at a 27-year-old man as he fled upstairs. There were young children in the house at the time. No one was injured. The gunman fired another shot through the front bedroom window as he left.They began searching on Monday morning. "They were examining a mound of earth that had been disturbed and scraped away some earth. An arm popped out, literally," one source said. The gardai did not have an idea who they had found or even suspect that there had been a body at the site. It took almost a day to establish that James Cronin was missing and that it was most likely him. They believe Cronin had been buried in the shallow grave until a more permanent hiding place was found for him. In recent years Limerick gangs have begun hiding corpses in an effort to escape detection. Last week's comments by Limerick councillor John Gilligan on the unusual degree of hatred and viciousness associated with gang violence and also that children were being inducted into the gangs were backed up by local people.One local source, who asked not to be identified, said that the gang are using boys as young as seven to move drugs and guns around the city. Gang members aged only 10 to 12 were terrorising people. Parts of the city have become "no-go areas" for people because of their threats, the source said, adding: "They make the Mafia look like Mother Theresa's children."The source quoted the example of what happened in the aftermath of last year's murder of Moyross gang leader, Noely Campion. In the immediate aftermath of his murder, by the same gang suspected of carrying out last weekend's murders, his family and neighbours became the subject of a campaign of vicious intimidation. Within hours of him being gunned down in Thomand, relatives and friends were warned that they would be shot if they went to his funeral. Junior members of the gang had teeshirts printed with the legend: "Wack wack, Noely got it in the back." They wore them as they stood taunting members of the Campion family as his coffin was brought to burial, the source said.Bursts of shots were fired into the Campion house where his widow, Maureen, and their two children lived. Their car was burned out and then the house itself. Maureen Campion's sister's house next door was also burned out. Another neighbour with a severely disabled son was burned out, as was another neighbouring house because it was believed they too had attended the funeral. The attacks continued after the burning of the four houses. Shots were fired into a car driven by a young woman who was seven months pregnant, simply because she was associated with the family.