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Spanish and Irish police are examining a revolver found during a raid on the town of Alicante by convicted Irish drug trafficker John Gilligan to determine if it was the weapon used in the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin.
Gilligan, whose gang murdered the campaign reporter on the outskirts of Dublin in 1996, was never convicted in connection with his murder. However, he threatened Guerin and her young son when she investigated his wealth and lifestyle.
Gilligan was acquitted of ordering Guerin’s murder by a Dublin court in 2001. Although the judge had “serious suspicions” about Gilligan’s involvement, the unsubstantiated evidence from Gilligan’s former criminal associates was not sufficient to convict him. for murder.
In a statement on Friday, Spain’s national police said the weapon, a Colt Python, had been recovered during a series of raids in Torrevieja and Orihuela Costa. Gilligan and five other people were arrested after the operation, which was carried out in collaboration with Garda agents and the UK’s National Crime Agency.
“Those arrested were headed by a well-known Irish criminal and were part of a group of violent drug dealers and arms dealers and were specialists in the shipment of illegal merchandise to the United Kingdom and Ireland from Spain,” said the National Police.
While the investigation led to the seizure of three 9mm pistols, 8kg of marijuana, and 26,000 pills, it also resulted in a more unexpected discovery.
“In one of the raids carried out in Alicante as part of the investigation, a Colt Python – the same model of revolver that was used in the journalist’s murder – was found buried in a garden,” the statement said. “Spanish officers are working with the Irish police to determine if it is the same weapon.”
At the end of Gilligan’s trial nearly 20 years ago, Judge Diarmuid O’Donovan said he was responsible for a “bleeding damage” and for which he had shown no remorse.
“Never in the history of the state has one person been responsible for so much misery for so many,” he said.
However, the judge told the court without a jury that he had no choice but to acquit Gilligan of the murder because the main evidence in the prosecution, from one of Gilligan’s former accomplices, Russell Warren, a witness protected by the state, it was not reliable and it was not corroborated.
Gilligan was jailed for 28 years for importing 20,000 kilograms of cannabis resin worth 32 million pounds sterling, but was found not guilty of four counts of possession of weapons and ammunition.
Gilligan was released from prison in October 2013. He fled Ireland the following year after being the target of two gun attacks.
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