A dangerous criminal has been hit with a €170k bill from the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) as a garda probe into him intensifies.
CAB officers have been investigating the gangster for months after it emerged that his gang is believed to be behind three gruesome murders.
Sources have revealed that the criminal, who was arrested this week for threatening to kill gardai, was served with the CAB bill in the last few days.
"The bill is a result of a lengthy investigation into this individual's assets from his drug dealing activities and involvement in the stolen car trade," a source said last night.
The gang boss is so paranoid he has built a 12-foot high wall around his home.
He is said to be "sick and tired" of the constant attention that he and his associates have been getting from gardai - particularly the heavily-armed Emergency Response Unit (ERU).
"He decided to build a wall because he wants to keep the cops out, that seems to be his main motivation. He thinks that the wall will make it harder for the gardai to keep tabs on his gang," a source explained.
"This individual has been getting more and more paranoid and building the wall is just the latest thing that he is done to try to keep attention off his mob."
The dangerous criminal, who is in his 30s, cannot be named for legal reasons as he is facing charges before the courts.
His associates are suspected of the double murders of Willie Maughan (34) and his partner Anna Varslavane who were last seen in the Gormanston area of Co Meath on the afternoon of April 14 last year.
Anna Varslavane and Willie Maughan
The mob are also suspected of the gun murder of a man who was shot dead in Balbriggan in September 2014, as part of a deadly feud in north Dublin that is still ongoing.
The brutal shooting also led to the victim's partner being shot in the legs after they had dropped their child at school in Balbriggan.
The gang are the chief suspects for an early morning bomb attack that led to a van exploding outside a Balbriggan house in late November.
The same gang are being investigated for a pipe bomb attack at the home of suspected mob murder victim Willie Maughan's sister, Martina, in Rathfarnham last October.
However, sources said that recent developments show that gardai have finally got to grips with the dangerous mob.
Ken Foy
Herald