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John Gilligan, photographed in 1996, was arrested by Spanish police after a gun was found.
A notorious Irish criminal was arrested almost 20 years after his acquittal for the murder of a journalist, following the discovery of the alleged murder weapon.
John Gilligan was acquitted in 2001 of ordering the murder of Veronica Guerin, an Irish investigative journalist who was shot and killed on the outskirts of Dublin in 1996.
The drug magnate subsequently served 17 years in prison for importing cannabis resin until he was released in 2013. Since then, he has divided his time between England and Spain.
Yesterday it emerged that Gilligan had been detained by the Spanish police after a hidden weapon was found in the garden of a business premises on the Costa Blanca. Spanish ballistics experts are now analyzing the weapon to confirm if it is the Colt Python revolver that a motorcycle hitman used to murder the 37-year-old reporter after she stopped at the traffic lights of her car.
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Police sources in Spain said yesterday that the weapon was of “the same make and model.” A source said: “Gilligan’s arrest followed an investigation into a gang of suspected drug traffickers.”
“The weapon was found hidden and buried during one of the police searches that formed part of this investigation.”
Another source added: “It is too early at this stage to say if the weapon that has been found is the one that was used to murder Veronica Guerin, but it is of the same make and model. The weapon was found during police searches sparked by an investigation into a gang that shipped marijuana and prescription drugs sold by street vendors to addicts from Spain to Ireland and the United Kingdom. Drugs and weapons have been seized ”.
Six people, including Gilligan, have been arrested in Spain as part of the operation.
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Veronica Guerin photographed shortly before her assassination on June 26, 1996.
Guerin’s murder inspired a 2003 biographical crime film, Veronica guerin, starring Cate Blanchett. Guerin had built a career writing about the Irish underworld and was murdered while working as a crime reporter for the Independent Sunday.
In the months leading up to her murder, Guerin had filed assault charges against Gilligan after he allegedly beat her at her equestrian center in Co Kildare when she tried to question him about how he made his money.
Gilligan, now 68, was acquitted of plotting the murder in March 2001 after a 43-day trial at the Dublin Special Criminal Court. Judge Diarmuid O’Donovan said he had “serious suspicions” that he was involved in the murder. He survived an attempt on his life five months after his release from prison in 2013.
Sources said yesterday that his arrest was the work of a specialized unit of the Spanish National Police called Greco, created to respond to organized crime.
– The daily Telegraph
