THE partner of a former sporting figure desperately followed the car he was bundled into at gunpoint up north as it fled towards the border, we can reveal.
A major investigation is underway by both the gardai and the PSNI following the foiled kidnapping of the 36-year-old man on Thursday evening, with four men arrested and in custody.
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The Irish Sun has also learned the kidnap vehicle is linked to an associate of ruthless Dublin drugs boss known as Mr Big.
The alarm was raised after the PSNI received reports that a man was bundled into a jeep in Belfast at gunpoint.
As cops up north worked to locate it, they contacted the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau as the suspect vehicle headed towards the border.
The kidnap victim’s innocent partner chased and followed the car for a long period of time before she lost trace of it.
The jeep was later intercepted and brought to a halt by armed gardai at junction 4, at Ballymun, on the M50 in Dublin shortly before 10pm on Thursday night.
Four men, three living in Galway and the other in Clondalkin, southwest Dublin, were arrested by officers at gunpoint before investigators retrieved a firearm and the victim, who was uninjured.
One of the suspects is well-known to cops in Galway for drug dealing while another seriously assaulted a garda before.
A source said: “This was a huge intervention by the gardai and it also highlights the good working and cross border relationship with the PSNI.
“This victim’s life was at risk here and it was the quick response by all involved that stopped this.”
A number of lines of inquiry being investigated by both police forces as to why the victim, a former sporting figure, was targeted.
However the wider theory is that it was drugs related as detectives up north suspect he is also involved in drugs and organised crime.
Gardai are checking out connections to Mr Big’s gang because the vehicle is linked to his pal.
The gun recovered is being examined for DNA but also to see if it can be matched with other crimes both north and south of the border.
The four arrested men are being quizzed under Section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act, 2007, at Garda Stations in the Dublin Region.
A garda spokesman said: “An Garda Siochana continues to liaise closely with the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
“Investigations are ongoing, and no additional information is available at this time.”
