Dissidents look east for arms

Croatian police stand guard over the weapons

The Provisional IRA and dissident republican groups have always been skilled procurers of illegal arms from a variety of foreign sources.

But the latest discovery of a massive arms shipment in Croatia, thought to be destined for the Real IRA, signifies the growing threat of the Balkans as a major source of smuggled arms.

While Libya, Czechoslovakia and the United States have all been used in the past to fuel the demand for rocket launchers, ammunition and explosives, Croatia has emerged as an arms provider to be reckoned with.

The latest discovery followed months of activity by detectives in the Eastern European state, and further arrests in the Irish Republic are expected as a result of the haul.

Parts of the shipment may also have been heading for terror groups elsewhere in Western Europe, it is thought.

As Croatia has become an increasingly fertile area for arms deals, some of the more "traditional" arms smuggling routes have fallen away.

Major hauls

Arms expert Sean Boyne says the fall of communism in Czechoslovakia effectively closed down one flourishing route.

The preference for Libyan arms in the 1970s, he says, gradually died down as the Palestine Liberation Organisation and Colonel Muammar Gaddafi "went respectable".

The changing geography of arms smuggling routes has been highlighted by numerous major hauls in recent decades.

In 1973, a major shipment thought to be for the Provisional IRA was stopped en route from Libya. Another from the same source was discovered in 1987.

American route

In the 1990s activity switched to the USA, with several major arms discoveries.

In 1992, a haul was uncovered in Arizona.

Then came the ceasefires and the Good Friday Agreement, which a minority of republicans opposed.

But these splinters - the Real IRA and Continuity IRA - do not have the income of the Provisionals, and have had to shop around for value-for-money arms.

Last year there was another significant find in Florida that was linked to Ireland.

It came to light when a number of guns which were posted from Florida were intercepted at Coventry airport in the West Midlands in July 1999.

Several arms finds have also been made in the republic since the IRA declared its ceasefire in July 1997.

The most recent discovery in County Meath in October 1999, indicates shipments from a flourishing Croatian market have already successfully reached Ireland.

As part of the continuing crackdown on dissident republicans, police found a shipment which included four small bombs, each containing half a pound of military explosive, and a rifle magazine.

All of the arms - which were of Eastern European origin - were discovered hidden amongst bales of hay.