An on-ceasefire dissident republican group linked to the murder of several suspected drug dealers has threatened to target the Co Armagh crime gang known as ‘The Firm’.
In a potentially deadly development Óglaigh na hÉireann (ÓNH) is set to turn its sights on the major crime group, which is based in Lurgan.
With dozens of members, including men and women, The Firm has emerged as one of the most ruthless drugs gangs operating in the north over recent years.
With international links, it is heavily involved in drug dealing across parts of north Armagh and includes members from both the nationalist and unionist backgrounds.
The gang has also been linked to at least two murders, Shane Whitla last year and Malcolm McKeown in August 2019.
ÓNH has now ordered members of The Firm to stop peddling drugs in the north Armagh area.
In a statement, using a recognised codeword, ÓNH said people living in the area say “they have had enough” of drug dealing and its members “are going to take it on”.
Several crime groups will be targeted, “in particular The Firm”, according to ÓNH.
Images circulating on social media over recent days appear to show a seven-strong group of masked and armed ÓNH members in Craigavon.
It is understood the show of strength image is one of several taken in the area last weekend.
Four masked men appear to be armed with handguns with a fifth man can be seen kneeling and holding what is understood to be a homemade 3D printed gun known as an FGC 9, which fires 9mm rounds.
During an Easter commemoration in 2022 a masked member of ÓNH said the group has taken “lethal action” against former members and drug dealers.
It has been linked to the murder of several suspected drug dealers, including Jim Donegan, on the Glen Road in west Belfast in 2018
Others killed in recent years include Mark Hall who was shot the Rodney Drive area of west Belfast in 2021.
That murder has been linked by the PSNI to the death of Sean Fox, who was shot dead in west Belfast in 2022.
In January this year Lurgan native Kevin Conway was also shot dead in west Belfast.
The 26-year-old was a enforcer and drug debt collector for the The Firm.
At the time of his death he was one of three men charged in relation to the murder of Shane Whitla in Lurgan last year, and was alleged to have lured the victim to his “execution”.
ÓNH declared a ceasefire in 2018 and at the time claimed it was suspending “all armed actions against the British state”.
The group has small levels of support in several districts across the north, including Belfast, Derry, north Armagh, south Armagh and north Louth.
Fears of feud within the group have been growing over recent months after it threatened to kill a former prominent member who has been “stood down”, along with others, amid long-running differences over its future direction.
It is understood the ex-prisoner has refused to relinquish his position and has the support of several associates, who are also under threat.
The man now under threat is believed to have been a key figure in the ‘old’ leadership’s ceasefire strategy.
Alliance Party Policing Board member Peter McReynolds said there was no place for paramilitary groups in society.
“It is for the PSNI and law enforcement bodies to pursue criminality,” he said.
“Paramilitary organisations have no legitimacy, and their ongoing activity in our community is utterly unacceptable and of grave concern.
“Over 25 years after the Good Friday Agreement, it is long past time for these groups to close up shop and exit the stage.”