A new gang has entered the void left by the Garda crackdown on feuding gangs in Drogheda, the Irish Independent has revealed.

The Louth town’s feud has already led to four murders and a clampdown on the Maguire gang and the faction controlled by their rivals.

But a gang of young criminals who use an Eircode as their identity symbol have now become prominent players in the area’s drugs market, since the death of Gormanston gangster Cornelius Price.

“National Garda units as well as very targeted local policing have made huge inroads into the activities of the long-established gangs in Drogheda,” a senior source said

“This has left an opening for other crime gangs to emerge and this gang is using the Drogheda feud to their own advantage and have moved in on a lot of the drug dealing turf. They have identified the gap in the market and are now the main players.

“Every week there are more and more incidents linked to them and in particular what is showing up is their drug debt-related intimidation
tactics.

“In recent weeks gang members have been issuing threatening phone calls and calling to innocent family members’ homes for the purpose of the collection of drugs debts and there has been assaults as well, some of them serious in nature.”

It has emerged the gang have been using different social-media platforms to deal drugs, often in smaller quantities but sometimes in bulk.

“This organisation has close links to criminals operating in north Co Dublin, particularly in the Balbriggan area,” a source said.

“There now needs to be the resources and the will to tackle this crew or else everything will go backwards in Drogheda,” the source added.