Written answers

Tuesday, 9 May 2006

Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform

Garda Operations

9:00 pm

Photo of Charlie O'ConnorCharlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 317: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the progress made in tackling gangland crime with operation Anvil; the funding allocated in 2006 for the programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16895/06]

Photo of Michael McDowellMichael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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Operation Anvil commenced in the Dublin Metropolitan Region on 17 May, 2005. It is an intelligence-led policing initiative, the focus of which is the targeting of active criminals and their associates involved in serious crime by preventing and disrupting this criminal activity through extensive additional overt patrolling and static check points by uniform, mobile and foot patrols supported by armed plain clothes patrols. The operation remains in place and ongoing in the Dublin Metropolitan Region and has been extended nationwide in 2006.

Outside the Dublin Metropolitan Region a series of special operations, prepared by senior Garda managers and designed to focus on areas and incidents of high crime, have been authorised and have commenced in recent weeks. Operation Anvil has been proved to be very successful in disrupting the criminal activities of a number of key criminal gangs and families and has resulted in a number of high-profile arrests and the collating of intelligence on the movements of criminals being targeted under these short-term initiatives under Operation Anvil. In addition, the Commissioner in November 2005 augmented the Organised Crime Unit at the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation with an additional 55 Garda members to address the problem of criminal gang activity. Enforcement by the Unit has resulted in further firearms being seized and a number of persons arrested, thereby disrupting their criminal activities.

A budget of approximately €11 million has been allocated for Operation Anvil during 2006 and the Garda Commissioner has recently been advised that an additional €10 million has been made available for further operations to tackle gang related crime.

The table below which shows the statistics for Operation Anvil up to 23 April, 2006 indicate that the Operation has contributed to encouraging successes across a number of headings.

Operation Anvil. Week ending 23 April, 2006
Arrests
Murder 38
Serious Assaults 486
Robbery Offences 486
Burglary 1,018
Total Number of Arrests 2,028
Searches
Drugs 9,175
Thefts 1,005
Firearms Searches 837
Total Searches 11,017
Seizures
Firearms 505
Vehicle Seizures 4,410
Total Seizures 4,915
Number of Checkpoints Established 28,105
Value of Property Recovered €7,380,821

In addition to the above the total number of arrests for the first two weeks of Operational Anvil is 286 and the total number of searches is 775. These figures cannot be broken down into the aforementioned categories.

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