Armed gangs on e-scooters terrorising commuters into handing over vehicles

Sunday World

28-07-2025

Gangs hijacking motorcycles, electric bikes, quad bikes and other e-scooters
Armed gangs on e-scooters are terrorising commuters, using guns, knives and other weapons to hijack motorcycles and electric bikes.
In one recent incident, a 19-year-old woman was travelling to work on her e-scooter when she was attacked by two males wearing balaclavas, who were on an e-scooter behind her.
She received a kick to her back, causing her to come to a stop.
One of the males then demanded she give him the e-scooter and punched her in the side of the face, causing her to suffer a broken tooth.
The crime, which happened in the ­Ronanstown area of west Dublin on Monday of last week, is just one of 90 hijackings which have been reported across the country to gardaí so far this year.
The following day, a four-man gang targeted a young man on his way to work on an e-scooter in the Liffey Valley area.
They threatened him with a knife before the terrified man handed over his e-scooter to the criminals.
On Friday, two males wearing balaclavas threatened a juvenile teenager with a knife near Lucan Shopping Centre and he was forced to hand over his e-scooter to them.
New figures show there have been hijackings in almost every county so far this year but the vast majority have happened in Dublin.
Shovels, iron bars, guns, knives, hammers and screwdrivers are among the weapons being used by armed hijackers, suffering serious assaults.
In one incident in May, a taxi was targeted in Dundalk by a criminal brandishing a handgun.
He took control of the taxi and a disabled passenger was thrown out of the vehicle and left on the side of the road.
The taxi was later found burnt out in Hackballscross, Co Louth.
Just weeks earlier in Dundalk, a man's car was rammed and a hammer was allegedly used to assault him in a botched hijacking.
The level of violence being used is a matter of grave concern
In Limerick city in May, a man suffered burn marks on his back caused by friction when he attempted to hold on to his car after three men forced him out of the vehicle.
'The level of violence being used and the variety of different weapons used to threaten and injure people is a matter of grave concern,' a source said.
They added that the 'sporadic and sometimes random nature' of this form of violent crime means it is often very difficult for gardaí to formulate a targeted response to it.
'Operation Meacan, which was introduced in December 2023, has seen a number of days of action since then,' the source said.
'It has proven to be very successful but this needs to be expanded.
'There is no doubt that could help tackle the epidemic in hijacking.'
Stock image
Today's News in 90 Seconds - July 28th
The aim of Operation Meacan is to tackle the use of electric motorbikes which are being used for criminal activity, including drug dealing, money laundering, transporting firearms, drug- related intimidation (DRI) and other serious offences.
The last major day of action as part of this operation happened in the Tallaght area last month.
Nearly 40 e-scooters were seized, along with 14 electric bikes, five motorbikes, six quad bikes and a scrambler bike, as well as drugs, various weapons and fireworks.
Figures show there were a total of 172 hijackings across Ireland last year, compared with 132 in 2023 and 123 incidents in 2022.
By comparison, there have been over 1,079 thefts of vehicles so far in 2025.
This includes the theft of 488 motorbikes, 298 e-scooters, 160 e-bikes, 23 quad bikes, 87 mopeds and 24 scrambler bikes.
More of these types of vehicles have been stolen in the first seven months of this year than in the entirety of 2022, when there were 961 such thefts, and in 2021 when there was 745 recorded incidents.
Last year, there were 2,013 thefts of these types of vehicles.