Six burglary gangs behind nationwide crime sprees

Sunday World

2 days ago

Break-in gangs launch raids from bases in Dublin and Kildare
Detective Chief Superintendent Séamus Boland, of the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB), said the six most prominent burglary gangs were separate to the 22 'top-tier' drugs and firearm organisations the bureau is also investigating.
They don't care about dogs, alarms or CCTV – that stuff does not stop them
'The issue with them is some of them will operate across groups as well at a national level,' he said.
'They don't care about dogs, alarms or CCTV – that stuff does not stop them and some of the houses that they burgle will have dogs in them and the highest-spec alarm and CCTV systems – they don't care about it.'
The senior detective pointed out that this is in marked contrast to 'opportunistic burglars' who are put off by such security arrangements that are becoming much more common in Irish households, something he welcomes.
'We have seen when there is spikes in burglaries in an area and when we intercept a high-level burglary gang and we take them out of the system, burglaries practically stop for a three-month period in that area,' Det Chief Supt Boland said.
The bureau has a specific role in Operation Thor – the nationwide garda operation targeting burglary gangs – which involves 'strategic national oversight and co-ordination', including identifying the gangs that are involved.
This involves a lot of analysis and regular conferences with gardaí across the country.
Detective Chief Superintendent Séamus Boland. Photo: Collins
Det Chief Supt Boland said that there had been a 75pc reduction in domestic burglaries since Operation Thor's introduction 10 years ago.
Last year saw an increase however, with break-ins up by 10pc in the 12 months to September 2024, with aggravated burglaries increasing by 15pc.
In that time period there were 9,981 reported burglaries, more than 27 every day, according to CSO figures, but the numbers have since reduced again.
New provisional crime figures for the first six months of 2025 show that residential burglaries fell by 13pc when compared to the first six months of 2024. This is an average of 14 residential burglaries per day across the 26 counties.
'A lot of analysis happens in relation to Operation Thor, not only the trends that are happening but who are the actual organised crime groups, the inter-regional travelling groups that are engaging in this type of crime,' Det Chief Supt Boland said.
We are targeting the right people, the right groups, they are being targeted here
'When those groups are identified, it is our role to ensure that they are targeted with all the resources available to the organisation,' he said pointing out some gangs are 'of such high risk' that the GNDOCB tackle them themselves.
'We are targeting the right people, the right groups, they are being targeted here. We are sharing all our information with our colleagues in the PSNI, in the UK and across the rest of Europe because some of these groups will commit burglaries here and then when the heat comes on them, they will move to locations such as Northern Ireland, and then London in particular.'
Det Chief Supt Boland said there had been 'significant detections' recently in this jurisdiction, the UK and Northern Ireland targeting the organised burglary groups.
'The reality is we have deployed the same resources to tackle these burglary gangs as we have deployed to tackle organised crime murder teams. That is how serious we are about tackling domestic burglaries across the country.'
He said such robberies had a distressing effect on victims.
While Det Chief Supt Boland did not name any of the six main burglary gangs, many are associated with burglary gang boss 'Fat' Andy Connors, who was shot dead outside his Saggart home in 2014 in an unsolved murder.
'Fat' Andy Connors
The Sunday World has also learned that in recent weeks a serial criminal aged 41 who is based in Naas, has been embarking on a massive burglary campaign in counties such as Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim and Cavan.
Meanwhile, new provisional crime statistics published today from the first half of this year recorded a 73pc rise in crimes categorised as 'fraud offences'.
The number of sexual offences reported to gardaí also increased in the first six months of the year when compared to the same period in 2024, garda statistics show.
Reports of rape are up 4pc while sexual assault reports are up 7pc.