The gang that shot Gary Carey in a Dublin hotel lured him back to Ireland by claiming to have lifted the threat on his life, it has emerged.
Sources have told us that convicted drug dealer Carey, 41, was fooled into returning to Dublin from his Spanish bolthole as part of the plot to kill him.
And this paper has also learned that the gang behind the attack on Carey in the underground car park of the Hilton Hotel in Kilmainham, south central Dublin, on Friday spent weeks planning the murder plot.
We have established the gang sourced the Audi car used in the attack even before Carey flew back to Ireland from Spain.
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Carey, a native of Ballyfermot in south Dublin, had been living in Spain since he escaped a previous attempt on his life in March – and was too afraid to come home.
But sources have now said he made the decision to come back to Ireland at the start of June after being assured the threat on his life had been lifted.
Lured
He flew home in the first week of this month – unaware that he was walking into a carefully-laid trap.
A source told The Star : “He was assured the threat against him had been lifted and he decided to come back.
“But that was just him being lured back. They wanted him home so they could kill him here.
“They had been planning it for weeks. They knew he was coming home.”
The gang used a silver Audi A4 to follow Carey to the Hilton Hotel where they hunted him down in the underground car park at around 11.30am on Friday.
He was shot six times and lost a significant amount of blood, before he was given life-saving treatment at the scene and was then rushed to hospital, where he was in intensive care last night.
He is described as being critically ill and sources say pals fear he may succumb to his injuries.
Garda at Kilmainham station are investigating and have appealed for witnesses or anyone with information to contact them on 01 666 9700, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda Station.
The Star has also confirmed that gardai believe a notorious crime group from Clondalkin, in west Dublin, nicknamed The Family are the prime suspects.
The Family, which is considered second only in size to the ruthless Kinahan cartel, has been embroiled in a feud with associates of Carey for some time.
It is believed that they are also behind the previous attempts on his life.
But sources also revealed that gardai believe associates of west Dublin criminal Derek “Dee Dee” O’Driscoll helped the Family carry out the attack.
Pals of convicted criminal O’Driscoll, 49, have also been feuding with Carey and teamed up with the Family to launch Friday’s murder bid, third attempt on Carey.
He previously survived being shot twice while sitting inside a car outside a house in Ballyfermot last November – and escaped with only minor graze injuries from a previous incident in March that year.
And yesterday, we revealed how an associate of the crime gang posted a sick threat online after the latest attempt on his life.
Posting a picture of Carey and his family to social media, the individual wrote: “Wot a lovely family….Imagine something was 2 appen em cos u were a rat (sic).”
The person also made fun of Carey’s inability to escape from the gunman who chased him in the car park last Friday before shooting him multiple times. “Heard the gym asnt helped yir cardio (sic),” they wrote.
Carey has been questioned a number of times by detectives in relation to seizures of drugs, firearms and cash.
He has also previously served 15 months in prison after pleading guilty to drug dealing at Dublin Circuit Court back in 2002.
Neither is he a stranger to gangland violence, having lost his own brother Darren in a gangland murder more than 20 years ago.
Tragic Darren, 20, and his pal Patrick Murray, 19, were shot dead by evil psycho Mark ‘the Guinea Pig’ Desmond just before New Year’s Eve in 2000.
The pair had been working for Desmond as drug couriers but were killed by him after Murray was arrested bringing drugs back from Amsterdam to Dublin.
Desmond was shot dead in Lucan, south Dublin, in December 2016.
Examination
Gardai are now examining the Audi which was discovered in the Blessington area of Wicklow over the weekend but had been burnt out.
It is undergoing a thorough examination as part of the major garda probe into last Friday’s shooting.
A source said: “A vehicle has been recovered and it is undergoing an examination to see if it was the one used on Friday.
“It was burnt out but if it was the one used, there is hope that evidence can be retrieved from it.”
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