Pubdate: Mon, 11 Oct 1999 Source: Examiner, The (Ireland) Copyright: Examiner Publications Ltd, 1999 Contact: http://www.examiner.ie/ Author: Sean McCarthaigh INLA DRUG FEUD PROMPTS RED ALERT FOR ARMED POLICE ARMED gardai in Dublin have been placed on red alert amid fears of an escalation in a feud between the INLA and a Dublin drugs gang which resulted in the death of one man at the weekend. Members of the Emergency Response Unit have been warned to prepare for further trouble after an INLA member died from injuries he sustained during a violent confrontation between the two rival gangs on Wednesday night. Gardai have launched a murder investigation after Patrick Campbell (22) was pronounced dead at Tallaght Hospital shortly after midnight yesterday. Mr Campbell with an address at Corduff Park, Blanchardstown, Co Dublin is understood to be a native of Belfast. The Irish Republican Socialist Party confirmed last night that Mr Campbell was a member of the INLA. It claimed he had died defending his community “in the on going battle against drugs.” Mr Campbell was being treated for stab wounds he received on Wednesday during the showdown in a factory on the Ballymount Industrial Estate, located just off the M50 C ring road. It is believed to have involved over a dozen members of both the INLA and a drugs gang controlled by a south Dublin crime boss. Garda sources have expressed concern that the incident could spark a return to violent gangland shootings in the capital. In one of the most serious confrontations between rival groups in recent years, six members of the drugs gang were held captive for a number of hours in a warehouse in south west Dublin. During their detention, the men were stripped naked and tortured with knives and shards of broken glass. However, other gang members then rushed to the scene in the Ballymount Industrial Estate after their friends failed to report back. They arrived on the scene as the men were being bundled into a van which was destined to bring them across the border into Northern Ireland. A number of shots were heard by passers by during the resulting confrontation in which several members of both groups are believed to have been injured. Most of the INLA gang who travelled to Dublin earlier in the week are believed to be from Belfast. The majority of members of the Dublin gang are known to the authorities here. Mr Campbell was discovered on a road outside the factory by a motorist and brought to Tallaght Hospital. Gardai later alerted other hospitals to look out for anyone reporting to casualty departments with suspect wounds. Chief Supt Noel Smith of Crumlin has appealed for further eye witnesses to come forward, although a number of the participants are known to have fled the city amid fears of reprisals. Last night, two men were being questioned about the incident at Crumlin Garda station. They are from Tallaght and are being held under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act. Another man was also arrested on Wednesday night but later released without charge. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek Rea