How a camper van and black SUVs disrupted life in West Cork
After Gardaí Men Co Social And Six Thursday Media Van Leap, Cork, Arrested Near A Camper Were On Picture: Searched Stopped
If it wasn’t for a lost dog, events that led to a series of arrests in West Cork might have turned out differently.
At around 6.30am, a woman was walking her dog near Tragumna Beach when the dog ran off.
She went after it and was just approaching the slipway when she saw a group of men gathered around a large articulated truck.
As soon as they saw her approaching in her hi-vis jacket, they sprinted past and around her. Some got into a cream-coloured English-reg camper van.
But as they sped off in the direction of the village of Leap, 15km away, others trying to get away were surrounded by plainclothes detectives who jumped out of unmarked vehicles.
A witness who watched as two men were arrested said: “We arrived just as they were leading two men into a Garda van.
“All we saw was the articulated truck, which was huge, backed down towards the slipway. It just isn’t something you expect to see anywhere near the jetty as it is a very small jetty.”
A resident said they first noticed the truck on Wednesday night.
“It arrived, or at least I first noticed it while I was out walking,” they said. “It was backed into the jetty and the driver just seemed to be sitting there.”
Another resident reported seeing the camper van just after they woke at around 5.30am Thursday.
“The lights were on, the engine was running and there seemed to be a few men in the front seat, but I couldn’t be too sure. I first saw it around three days ago, maybe Monday and something about it then didn’t make sense either.
"Firstly, the holiday season doesn’t start for a week or two. Added to that, every morning when I would get up and go for a walk, I would see it parked near the slipway, again with its engine running, and the lights on. It was always there at the jetty from about 5.30am and it would be gone usually by day light."
The last time men from the camper van were seen before yesterday morning’s arrests was in Leap the evening before.
“Two men walked into the service station at Leap and tried to buy €150 worth of groceries,” another resident said. “Apparently they couldn’t understand why they couldn’t buy their food with sterling.”
But while locals in Tragumna had grown wary of the camper van, which had a long strip of small flood lights along each side, the appearance more than a week ago of unmarked garda cars also attracted attention.
Locals also reported seeing a number of D-reg black SUVs with men and women sitting in them, driving around and parking up for short periods and then moving to different spots, all around the general area of the jetty who, they believed, were undercover officers.
In Leap, where four men were later arrested, one resident said: “At around 8.20am, we heard sirens and within 10 minutes they had been turned off. When I looked out, I saw a camper van surrounded by garda vehicles and plainclothes officers.
“They had four men lying face down on the tarmac in front of a fish and chip shop."