Continuity IRA feeding UK gun culture

Tuesday, 14 October 2003 5:42 AM

Continuity IRA, a splinter group of the Irish Republican Army, has supplied firearms and drugs to some of the UK's most violent gangs, according to the BBC.

The Limerick-based dissident terrorist outfit has been smuggling weapons onto the British mainland for sale to organised crime syndicates in English cities such as Manchester and Birmingham.

The National Criminal Intelligence Service has confirmed the story, according to the BBC, but Greater Manchester Police said there was no substantial evidence that guns were being sourced from Eire.

The illegal weapons were transported in furniture vans driven between the two countries, according to the report.

The story comes after a spate of gun-related incidents in Reading, Nottinghamshire and Hertfordshire, fuelling fears that the police are losing the battle against violent crime on British streets.

Tags: